Why Antalya · The road to COP31

The COP31 President is Murat Kurum, Türkiye's Minister of Environment, Urbanisation and Climate Change. The President of Negotiations is Chris Bowen, Australia's Minister for Climate Change and Energy. The meeting takes place at the Antalya EXPO Center.

Australia's role comes with a partnership with Pacific governments. It has three envoys: Tina Stege of the Marshall Islands, Ruel Yamuna of Papua New Guinea and Inia Seruiratu of Fiji. Its four pillars cover the 1.5 °C goal, access to climate finance, the ocean and the Pacific's voice.

Before the conference, ministers meet at a Pre-COP in Fiji, with a leaders' event in Tuvalu, from 5 to 8 October 2026, co-hosted by Fiji, Tuvalu and Australia. No chair's summary had been published by 9 October. Chris Bowen said the declaration agreed in Tuvalu, the Taku Pakasoa Declaration, reaffirms efforts to triple renewable energy, double energy efficiency and transition away from fossil fuels.

At the June talks in Bonn, countries could not agree any conclusions on the global goal on adaptation. Under the rules, an unfinished item goes onto the agenda of the next session, which meets in Antalya. Countries also have to decide in Antalya whether the mitigation work programme continues. Germanwatch, a German environmental group, reports that fossil-fuel producers led by Saudi Arabia slowed progress on mitigation in Bonn.

A two-year work programme is examining what developed countries owe under the Paris Agreement's finance article. It is on the agenda in Antalya.

Türkiye's 2035 target caps emissions at 643 million tonnes. That is 466 million tonnes below its own business-as-usual projection, but above its 2018 level of 458.8 million tonnes, including land use and forestry. It aims for net zero by 2053. The OECD recommends that Türkiye plan a move away from coal and replace fossil-fuel subsidies with targeted social support.

Australia's 2035 target is a cut of 62 to 70% below 2005 levels.

Climate Action Tracker, an independent research group, rated Türkiye's climate action "critically insufficient" on 16 September 2026 and Australia's "insufficient" on 11 June 2025, before Australia set its 2035 target.

Pacific Islands Forum leaders call for accelerating the transition away from fossil fuels in energy systems. The Pacific Islands Climate Action Network, a civil-society network, goes further: it says fossil fuel production must be phased out. Pledges to the Pacific Resilience Facility, the region's own climate fund, total 190 million dollars, against a first target of 500 million.

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