The United Nations climate conference known as COP31 is underway in Antalya, Turkey, with Turkey hosting and Australia leading negotiations through Nov. 20^1,5,8.

MIT Technology Review said the talks opened Nov. 8 as governments debate how to pay for emissions cuts and adaptation and whether fossil-fuel language returns to a final text¹.

A September UN Environment Program report said warming is set to exceed the Paris Agreement’s 1.5C goal, likely within a few years¹. The World Meteorological Organization’s opening-day update, as reported by Hindustan Times, put January–September 2026 about 1.47C above pre-industrial levels and said 2023–2026 were the four hottest years on record⁸. RNZ said the WMO forecast that 2026 would rank among the four warmest years⁶.

Two years ago, parties set a goal of mobilizing $300 billion a year by 2035; the OECD put 2024 flows from rich nations at $136.7 billion^1,8. Hindustan Times said a Climate Finance Work Programme reached the agenda after overnight talks involving the African Group⁸. Australia’s climate minister, Chris Bowen, who is president of negotiations, said countries that need finance most often receive it least^6,8.

Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday called for grant-based finance so disasters do not deepen debt, plus larger adaptation funds². He said the 2022 floods killed more than 1,700 people and caused more than $30 billion in losses². Nepal lawmaker Sagar Dhakal told the opening session a glacier collapse killed about 10,000 people in 10 minutes and erased about 10% of Nepal’s GDP, Hindustan Times reported⁸.

Dawn reported that Guterres told leaders the climate crisis was outrunning the response². RTE said several G7 leaders were not scheduled to speak and that the EU has stressed any electrification push must be clean³.

Hosts are promoting a voluntary pledge to raise electricity’s share of global energy use to 35% by 2035^1,3,7,8. Politico Europe said the current share is around 20% and that three diplomats reported the 27 EU governments had agreed to back the pledge, which as unveiled in September did not require the electricity to be clean⁷. MIT Technology Review put today’s share near 23%¹. Pakistan said it supports the 35-by-35 pledge².

Dawn said the United States skipped the talks for a second year after withdrawing from climate cooperation². MIT Technology Review likewise called this the second COP without a formal U.S. delegation¹.

Climate activist Greta Thunberg, attending her first COP since 2021, called the process hypocritical and said host countries use it to whitewash themselves⁴. COP32 is scheduled for Addis Ababa in November 2027⁴.