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COP31: UN meeting asks how to restore trust in climate action weeks before the Antalya summit

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COP31, the next UN climate conference, opens in Antalya, Türkiye, in less than a month, and on 16 October 2026 representatives of three summit presidencies met at UN Headquarters in New York to ask how the world can restore trust in climate action. The special event, ‘A Planet Fit for the Future: Restoring Trust through Climate Action’, was convened by General Assembly President Khalilur Rahman. The presidencies were Brazil, which hosted COP30, Türkiye and Australia, which share COP31, and Ethiopia, which will host COP32.

COP31: A family shelters by a roadside in Jacobabad district, Pakistan, after floods hit their home
A family shelters by a roadside in Jacobabad district, Pakistan, after floods hit their home Photo: © UNICEF/Asad Zaidi via UN News (editorial use with credit).

What the General Assembly president asked of COP31

Rahman warned that this year’s strengthening El Niño could be among the strongest since at least 1950, and that current policies put the world on course for about 2.8°C of warming above pre-industrial levels, far beyond the Paris Agreement goals, UN News reported. He said behind such figures are families uprooted and communities facing losses they cannot bear. COP31 must be more than another negotiating milestone and must show that multilateralism delivers, he said. His opening remarks, published on the General Assembly website, urged countries to turn national climate plans into funded, measurable action and to put the most vulnerable first.

Key Facts

  • Summit: COP31, Antalya, Türkiye, 9-20 Nov 2026
  • Leaders’ summit: 11-12 Nov
  • UN event: ‘A Planet Fit for the Future’, 16 Oct 2026
  • Warming on current policies: about 2.8°C
  • Africa’s share of emissions: about 3%

“Let COP31 be judged not by promises we repeat, but by the people we protect.”

— Khalilur Rahman, President of the UN General Assembly, via UN News

Climate finance and the Türkiye-Australia arrangement

Türkiye will host COP31 from 9 to 20 November and set out plans to speed up clean energy, cut methane and build resilience. A key initiative is the Climate Implementation Bridge, developed with UNDP, which aims to turn national climate pledges into investment-ready projects linked to funding. Türkiye’s UN ambassador Ahmet Yıldız said the issue is not only the amount of finance but whether it is available, accessible, affordable and predictable. Australia is leading the negotiations under an unusual arrangement in which two countries far apart share the summit duties. Its ambassador James Larsen called for easier access to finance and stronger adaptation plans built on science and local needs.

Brazil and Ethiopia set out priorities

Brazil, which hosted COP30 last year, named three priorities for Antalya: making the new just transition mechanism work, improving how countries measure progress on adaptation and expanding climate investment in developing countries burdened by debt. Ambassador Sérgio França Danese said the finance talks must find workable ways to expand fiscal space for climate investment in heavily indebted countries. Ethiopia, which will host COP32, reminded delegates that Africa produces only about three per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions yet faces some of the worst impacts. Its ambassador Tesfaye Yilma Sabo said financing and access to technology increasingly decide who benefits from the energy transition. World leaders are expected at a special summit in Antalya on 11 and 12 November, Anadolu Agency and UN News reported.

Why It Matters: India and other developing countries want COP31 to deliver real money for adaptation, so the trust debate shapes what they can expect from Antalya.

Also on TrendDesh: COP17 biodiversity report: fewer than half of national nature targets on track, Guterres warns · El Nino 2026: NASA satellites track what may be the strongest El Nino since 1950

Source: UN News · UN General Assembly President's remarks · Anadolu Agency

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