UN climate summit in Turkey opens with call to turn promises into action

Antalya, November 9 (IANS): To make it an “implementation COP”, the two-week 31st Conference of Parties to the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP31) opened in Antalya in Turkey on Monday with its President Murat Kurum calling on countries to turn climate promises into practical action, as the world confronts increasingly interconnected climate, economic and geopolitical challenges.

Kurum told delegates from nearly 200 countries that climate change can no longer be considered in isolation from the other pressures facing countries and communities, and that “each crisis makes the others worse”.

Conflict and geopolitical tensions, economic uncertainty and debt, food insecurity, rapid technological change and unequal access to capital and technology are unfolding alongside a world that is becoming hotter, more fragile and increasingly exposed to disasters.

Climate impacts are also crossing borders and sectors, Kurum said, with drought, flooding, water scarcity and extreme heat affecting food production, supply chains, economies, migration, cities and human health.

“A drought in one part of the world is felt at the dinner table in another,” he said. Kurum called for COP31 to become an “implementation COP”, focused on closing the gap between commitments made in negotiating rooms and tangible improvements in people’s lives.

He pledged that the Presidency will seek to bring countries together across geopolitical and economic divides, and that “Turkey has long served as a bridge -- we are ready to take on that responsibility again”.

Kurum reaffirmed the Paris Agreement’s goal of limiting temperature increases to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels as the benchmark guiding international action, saying it “remains our guide” and that at COP31“we will be frank about what the science tells us.”

The WMO State of the Climate Update 2026, released on COP31’s opening day, shows that the past 12 years have individually been the warmest on record, with the past four years being the top four.

The Belém Mission to 1.5 report, published ahead of COP31 by the COP Presidencies of Turkey, Australia, Brazil and Azerbaijan, outlines key opportunities, barriers, and actionable solutions to keep 1.5 degrees within reach and strengthen adaptation and resilience in a changing world.

The Presidency’s focus will be on ensuring that decisions taken in Antalya translate into results beyond the negotiating rooms, from more resilient urban infrastructure and productive farmland to cleaner industrial production and lower household energy costs.

Kurum used his opening statement to reinforce the role of electrification in the energy transition, highlighting Turkey’s “35-by-35” Global Electrification Pledge, which sets an objective of increasing electricity’s share of final energy consumption to 35 per cent by 2035.

Renewable energy, stronger grids, energy storage, energy efficiency, clean transport and green industry will be mutually reinforcing components of that transformation, Kurum said.

The Presidency wants the results of international climate negotiations to become visible in people’s daily lives, “in buildings that use less energy, in clean public transport, in energy they can afford and in new jobs”.

Kurum recalled the climate finance goal agreed in Baku, of at least $300 billion annually for developing countries by 2035 and the call to scale climate finance from all sources to at least $1.3 trillion annually.

“Now our promises must be backed by capital. That capital must fund investment. And that investment must deliver results.”

President of Negotiations for COP31 Chris Bowen said, “COP31 is an opportunity to show what cooperation can deliver at this crucial time for both our climate and global energy security.”

“It will be about unlocking finance and investment, accelerating electrification and boosting action on the ocean, nature’s greatest climate regulator. COP31 must help close the gap between commitment and delivery, and focus on real-world outcomes -- investment, infrastructure, jobs, energy security and resilient communities,” Bowen added.

UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell called out the costs of global heating and extreme weather on communities in his opening speech.

He noted: “This year's fossil fuel cost chaos has delivered a global shockwave, hitting households hard and spreading inflation like a cancer. But the solutions are clear: Global renewables saved $265 billion in the first half of this year alone. Adaptation delivers proven returns on investment. It’s in every country’s interest to limit global heating and protect every community and economy.”