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COP31 opens in Antalya, Türkiye, with clean energy and loss-and-damage focus

scienceNov 6, 202615246

COP31 opened in Antalya, Türkiye, where nearly 200 nations have gathered for negotiations that run from November 9 to 20, 2026. The summit is centering on a push to electrify the global economy, with a proposal on the table to meet 35 percent of final energy demand from electricity by 2035. Australia will chair the formal negotiations, handling issues such as the just transition, the loss and damage fund and climate finance, while Türkiye will lead the voluntary “action agenda” that includes electrification, cutting waste and methane. Scientists warned in coverage leading into the talks that an El Niño supercharged by fossil-fuel warming is already worsening climate impacts, and the glacier collapse in Nepal has refocused attention on loss and damage. Delegates face a fraught geopolitical backdrop, conflicts in Ukraine, Iran and Gaza and economic uncertainty linked to an unpredictable US administration, that commentators say will complicate consensus on fossil fuel phaseouts and finance. The summit’s immediate workstreams are negotiating rules for the loss and damage fund, firming finance commitments, and hashing emissions-cutting measures tied to the electrification push.

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