The programme for the 31st Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP31), to be hosted by Türkiye in Antalya from 9 to 20 November, has largely been finalised. According to Prof. Levent Kurnaz, director of Boğaziçi University's Centre for Climate Change and Policy Studies, the schedule is built around 12 thematic days.
Kurnaz said the first day will focus on "Food, Agriculture and Health" and the second on "Energy and Transport", covering energy security, electrification and grid infrastructure. The Leaders' Summit on 11-12 November will address "Zero Waste" and "Resilient Cities". These will be followed by days on "Finance and Trade", "Children, Youth and Education", "Science and Industry", "Ocean, Seas, Nature and Land Use", "Human and Social Development" and an "Imece" day dedicated to strengthening implementation, with the final day reserved for closing negotiations. Kurnaz said the layout shows COP31 positioned "not as a conference writing new rules, but one putting existing pledges into practice".
Noting that leaders at earlier COPs met in the opening days, Kurnaz said their attendance in the middle of the first week in Antalya effectively brings political will directly into technical talks. With negotiators drafting about 90 percent of the final text and the remaining 10 percent requiring political decisions, he said leaders "can tell negotiators early on that they can show flexibility", though he warned of a disconnect between the two weeks if their messages are not reflected in the text.
Kurnaz welcomed a dedicated zero waste day and the unprecedented focus on waste and methane, as well as the inclusion of artificial intelligence, tourism and cultural heritage. He noted, however, that adaptation has no separate day and that a transition away from fossil fuels is not explicitly named on the energy day.
Around 100 agenda items will be discussed, with adaptation, just transition, finance and emissions cuts expected to be decisive. Kurnaz said no progress was made on the global goal on adaptation at June's Bonn talks, while a draft decision on operationalising the just transition mechanism agreed in Belem is expected at COP31. He said a roadmap showing how developed countries will reach the annual 300 billion dollar target by 2035 and triple adaptation finance will be the most contested issue, adding that new national contributions are still not aligned with the 1.5-degree goal.
Kurnaz argued that Türkiye, being neither an EU member, part of the developing countries bloc, an oil exporter nor a small island state, has room to mediate. He urged clarifying the path to its 2053 net zero target with interim goals, presenting investment-ready projects to international financiers, and becoming "the voice of the Mediterranean", a region warming faster than the global average, through a cooperation initiative on adaptation and water security.
