Leaders, scientists, civil society representatives, activists and others from nearly 200 countries, comprising India, are gathering for two weeks in Turkey’s Mediterranean resort city of Antalya for the 31st Conference of Parties to the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP31), beginning today, with aim to accelerate clean energy, scale up climate finance and strengthen resilience. The summit will continue till November 20.

 

The Conference of the Parties (COP), the highest-level global climate summit held annually under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), is bringing together heads of state, Ministers, scientists, business leaders, and civil society representatives from around the world and serves as the primary platform for negotiating and advancing collective action to combat climate change.

 

At COP31, the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) will support countries by providing authoritative scientific observations and information on the state of the global climate system, including through the launch of its flagship State of Climate update 2026, a science-based annual assessment of climate indicators and impacts. 

 

This year’s climate summit is being held in the backdrop of the this month’s United Nations Environment Programme’s (UNEP) report that says with global warming set to exceed 1.5 degrees Celsius, adaptation finance falls far short of needs, implementation is constrained by institutional barriers, and losses and damages are mounting.