COP31 Kicks Off in Türkiye’s Antalya with Around 200 Countries Taking Part

The 31st United Nations Climate Change Conference, known as COP31, kicked off today, Monday, in Antalya, Türkiye, with around 200 countries taking part to discuss ways to tackle climate change.

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is among the world leaders attending the summit. He defeated his climate-change-skeptic rival in elections held in his country last month. He is part of a small group of world leaders traveling to the coastal city of Antalya to take part in some of the discussions.

Other leaders attending include Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and British Prime Minister Andy Burnham.

Türkiye’s Environment Minister, Murat Kurum, is chairing the conference. Meanwhile, Australia has appointed its Climate Minister, Chris Bowen, as the “President of Negotiations.” His role is to explore ways to reach compromises and help secure agreement on the final texts.

This division of responsibilities is unusual and marks a new approach this year. Critics fear it could lead to disagreements, pointing out that even during the preparation stage, it was clear that individual proposals had not been properly coordinated.

With unprecedented wildfires, deadly heatwaves, flash floods, and droughts affecting every continent, the impact of climate change has become increasingly clear over the past year. COP31 aims to help address this growing crisis.

The Paris Agreement came into force 10 years ago, when nearly 200 countries agreed to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels in order to avoid the most devastating consequences of climate change.

However, the latest United Nations projections suggest that, under current climate policies, the world is heading toward a temperature rise of 2.8 degrees Celsius by the end of this century