ANTALYA, Türkiye, 9th November, 2026 (WAM) - As nearly 200 countries gather here for the latest UN climate summit, COP31, the question is whether they can add a new chapter of their own by turning decades of climate promises into action.
Beyond the bustle of the conference halls, the stakes are high. As extreme weather impacts mount worldwide, governments face growing pressure to show that decades of climate commitments can deliver results.
“Progress is nowhere near far enough or fair enough,” UN Climate Change chief Simon Stiell told the opening plenary on Monday, urging countries to move beyond setting targets and “supercharge solutions” that can make a difference on the ground.
“No COP is a silver bullet. No single conference can bridge the chasm between the science and reality,” he said.
Unlike summits dominated by a single landmark agreement, COP31 is focused on turning existing commitments into action.
Türkiye’s Environment Minister Murat Kurum officially took the gavel as the COP31 President, while Australia’s Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen will oversee negotiations under an unusual co-presidency arrangement agreed during COP30.
“Our decisions must take shape in a city’s infrastructure, on a farmer’s land and along a factory's production line. Families must feel their impact in lower energy bills,” Kurum told delegates.
Bowen announced plans to develop a presidency-led decision throughout the conference, rather than waiting until its final days. The aim is to agree on practical measures to accelerate climate action, although differences remain over how ambitious the outcome should be.
Finance is expected to be the one of the toughest issues, with developing countries seeking faster access to funding for adaptation and cleaner development. Negotiators must also advance agreements on emissions reductions and a just transition.
“We know there will be a difference of views – on the value of the decision, on its elements, on how far we go. But our job is to work to close those differences and provide the most ambitious, most outcome-orientated decision that consensus will allow,” Bowen explained.
Monday was also Food, Agriculture and Health Day, bringing attention to the growing toll of climate change on human health.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), between 3.3 and 3.6 billion people live in areas highly vulnerable to climate change. Extreme heat, floods and shifting weather patterns are already putting lives at risk and straining health systems worldwide.
Health is one of the 10 priority areas of COP31’s Action Agenda, and countries are being urged to put into practice the Belém Health Action Plan agreed at COP30. A new Antalya Initiative for Health Resilience is also being launched.
Food and agriculture account for roughly one third of global greenhouse gas emissions. But the sector is also highly vulnerable to climate change, as rising temperatures, droughts and floods threaten crops and the livelihoods of millions of farmers.