ANALYSIS: COP31: Nine Key issues to shape talks as UN climate talks open in Türkiye

This year’s summit will be conducted under an unusual shared leadership arrangement, with Türkiye hosting the conference while Australia leads the negotiations.

World leaders, government representatives, delegates, civil society groups, researchers and scientists are converging in Antalya, Türkiye, for the 31st session of the United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP31), amid growing calls for countries to translate their climate commitments into concrete action.

This year’s summit will be conducted under an unusual shared leadership arrangement, with Türkiye hosting the conference, while Australia leads negotiations. Its overarching slogan, “Where Dialogue Becomes Global Action”, reflects the ambition to move beyond climate pledges towards practical implementation.

Beyond the proposed agenda, the African Group of Negotiators (AGN), which includes Nigeria, will push for developed countries to fulfil their existing climate finance obligations under the Paris Agreement.

The African negotiating bloc plans to push for increased support to help developing countries implement their climate commitments, strengthen resilience, and tackle the growing impacts of climate change.

According to the UN Climate Change secretariat, three major reports published ahead of COP31 indicate that governments are increasingly adopting whole-of-economy and whole-of-society approaches to climate policymaking.

Yet, the reports warn that overall progress remains substantially insufficient, highlighting persistent barriers to speeding up climate action and implementing national targets and pledges.

Mandated under the UN climate process, the reports include the 2026 Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) Synthesis Report, the Biennial Transparency Report (BTR) Synthesis Report and the National Adaptation Plans (NAPs) Progress Report.

Together, they assess countries’ progress in translating climate commitments into policies, tracking emissions reductions, strengthening adaptation, and mobilising the resources required to deliver climate action.

Consequently, COP31 hopes to offer an important opportunity for countries to advance negotiations on practical measures to address these implementation gaps.

Alongside the formal negotiations, the Global Climate Action Agenda will provide opportunities to boost electrification, improve access to climate finance and cut waste and emissions of super-pollutants such as methane.

In a statement ahead of the conference, UN Climate Change’s executive secretary, Simon Stiell, said the reports showed that more governments are integrating climate action into their economic planning.

“These reports show more governments are taking climate action right across their economies, to bank the vast benefits of clean energy and climate resilience,” he said.

Mr Stiell noted that climate action is increasingly being recognised as a driver of economic growth, job creation and affordable, secure energy.

That said, he warned that global progress remains too slow to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement.

“However, this year’s reports demonstrate again that collective progress remains clearly insufficient, that global transitions are very uneven, and that many countries face substantial barriers to delivering their targets and pledges,” he said.

He said COP31 could help close some of the gaps through ambitious outcomes on mitigation, adaptation, climate finance and just transitions.

Mr Stiell also highlighted the significance of accelerating electrification, curbing methane emissions and advancing zero-waste initiatives.

“By building the support, agreements, and partnerships needed to help convert more pledges into real-world results, COP31 can also bring the vast benefits of climate resilience and cheap, secure clean energy to more people around the world,” he added.

According to the United Nations, the 2026 Nationally Determined Contributions Synthesis Report assesses how countries are turning their commitments under the Paris Agreement into concrete policies and actions, while identifying existing challenges.

Between 1 January 2024 and 31 August 2026, the UN said it recorded 127 new NDCs from 154 Parties to the Paris Agreement in the NDC registry. Together, they cover approximately 70 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions.

The UN observed that the report shows the latest generation of NDCs is more comprehensive, increasingly incorporating different components of the Paris Agreement, including mitigation, adaptation, climate finance, technology transfer, capacity-building, loss and damage, response measures and just transition.

It also highlights the growing involvement of local and regional authorities, civil society organisations and the private sector in planning, implementing and monitoring climate action.

Reflecting this whole-of-society approach, the report noted that 98 per cent of Parties reported engaging different stakeholders in implementing their NDCs, compared with 70 per cent in previous submissions.

The report further notes that 90 per cent of parties weighed the outcomes of the first global stocktake in preparing their latest NDCs, while 65 per cent highlighted the contribution of clean energy to energy security.

Despite these developments, projected emissions reductions remain far below the levels science requires to achieve the Paris Agreement’s temperature goals.

Current pledges are expected to reduce global emissions by about six per cent by 2035, compared with 2019 levels.

Even with full implementation of all current pledges, emissions could decline by only around nine per cent by 2035, underscoring the need for stronger international cooperation, financial support, and coordinated action across governments, businesses, and other sectors.

The 2026 National Adaptation Plan Progress Report marks a shift from tracking the formulation of national adaptation plans to assessing their implementation.

As of 20 October, 146 countries had initiated or launched the National Adaptation Plan process.