COP31 is underway. Here are five issues to watch
What the U.N. climate summit is, how it started and what’s at stake this year, from fossil fuels to flood protection.
Record heat and a strengthening El Niño are setting the stage for the 31st annual United Nations climate change conference. AccuWeather reporter Heather Fordham explains five key issues to watch when world leaders convene in Turkey on Nov. 9.
The world just had its hottest October on record. Ocean surface temperatures outside the polar regions also set an October record as El Niño strengthened in the Pacific. Against that backdrop, negotiators in Turkey are weighing how fast countries can cut emissions and who will pay to help communities adapt to heat, drought and flooding.
This year, summit organizers are focusing on how countries can deliver on promises they’ve already made, from cutting emissions to helping communities prepare for floods and drought.
What is COP31?
People walk past a COP31 sign in front of the entrance to the Antalya Expo center ahead of the start of COP31 on Nov. 07, 2026 in Antalya, Turkey. (Image: Burak Kara/Getty Images)
COP stands for Conference of the Parties. The “parties” are the governments that joined the U.N. climate treaty. They meet each year to review what they’ve done about climate change and agree on what to do next.
The first COP took place in Berlin in 1995. Twenty years later, countries adopted the Paris Agreement at COP21, committing to hold global warming well below 2 degrees Celsius and pursue efforts to limit it to 1.5 degrees.
This year’s summit is the 31st meeting. It runs Nov. 9–20 in Antalya, on Turkey’s Mediterranean coast. Here are five issues to watch.
1. How quickly can countries cut emissions?
October was the third straight month with global temperatures more than 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above preindustrial levels, according to the Copernicus Climate Change Service. The Paris goal refers to warming measured over many years.
The U.N. Environment Programme says deeper cuts in heat-trapping emissions are needed to limit how far global temperatures rise above 1.5 degrees and how long they stay there. Watch for countries to spell out which policies they’ll use to cut emissions and when those policies will take effect.
Activist Greta Thunberg talks to the media on day two as she arrives at the COP31 UNFCCC Climate Conference on Nov. 10, 2026 in Antalya, Turkey. (Image: Burak Kara/Getty Images)
2. What would it take to move away from fossil fuels?
More than 80 countries backed a proposal to draw up a plan for moving away from fossil fuels at last year’s summit in Brazil. The proposal was left out of the final agreement. On Tuesday, Brazil presented its own road map in Antalya. A central challenge is how fast countries can expand their power grids so electricity from new wind and solar projects can reach homes and businesses.
3. Who pays for the work?
Last year’s agreement called for tripling funding by 2035 to help developing countries adapt to climate change. That money can help pay for flood defenses and more reliable water systems. Watch for governments and lenders to say how much they’ll provide and when the money will be available.
4. How can communities protect food and water supplies?
A drought can shrink a harvest and strain a town’s drinking-water supply at the same time. One question in the food security discussions is how to help farmers get through dry years. That can mean growing crops that can survive on less water or investing in irrigation that makes better use of what’s available.
5. How can cities prepare for extreme heat and flooding?
A Nov. 11 session in Antalya focuses on how cities can prepare for climate extremes. For people living through hotter summers or repeated floods, that can mean shade at a bus stop, cooler homes or storm drains built to handle heavier downpours.
When the summit ends Nov. 20, look for which projects have money behind them, which communities can get that funding and when the work can start.
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