COP31 to Focus on Implementing Climate Policies

A girl sits on cracked, drought-scorched ground beside empty water containers, illustrating how climate stress, water scarcity and environmental degradation disproportionately affect vulnerable communities in Bangladesh.

The 31st session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP31) will focus on the practical implementation of climate policies, Turkish Deputy Foreign Minister Berris Ekinci said on Thursday.

Speaking at an event marking the upcoming United Nations Day, Ekinci said the conference would be designed as an “implementation COP”, reflecting growing expectations that the second decade of the Paris Agreement should prioritise delivering climate commitments rather than primarily negotiating new decisions.

She highlighted the importance of linking national climate priorities with financing through the Climate Implementation Bridge, an initiative developed with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to help turn climate ambitions into bankable projects.

The summit will also combine formal negotiations with a climate action agenda involving cities, businesses, investors, researchers, civil society and young people, Ekinci said. The agenda includes six global targets for 2035, she added.

Babatunde Ahonsi, the UN resident coordinator in Türkiye, said tackling climate change requires broad participation across society, including businesses, local authorities, women, young people and governments.

Describing the approach as “inclusive multilateralism”, Ahonsi said preparations for COP31 had included dialogues with businesses, municipalities, youth groups and women’s organisations.

Also on Thursday, Murat Kurum, Türkiye’s minister of Environment, Urbanisation and Climate Change, said the country expected 85 world leaders to attend COP31 in the Mediterranean resort city of Antalya next month. He added that 26,000 security personnel would be deployed to ensure the event proceeded smoothly.

Kurum made the remarks during an inspection of the summit venue. Nearly 300 ministers were expected to visit Türkiye, while applications for 159 pavilions and 90 delegation offices had been approved, a record number for a UN climate conference, he said.

More than one million visitors were expected during the event, which will feature dedicated meeting halls, exhibition areas and a media centre designed to accommodate 4,000 journalists, according to Kurum.

Interior Minister Mustafa Ciftci said 26,000 personnel from the police, gendarmerie and coast guard would be assigned to security duties, with measures covering land, air and maritime operations.

COP31 is scheduled to take place in Antalya, Türkiye, from November 9 to 20.