The 31st UN climate conference is under way in Antalya, Turkey, with TheCable’s Janefrances Chibundu reporting on negotiations and their meaning for Nigeria and Africa
The 31st Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change has opened in Antalya, Turkey, offering countries a chance to convert years of negotiations into practical measures against rising temperatures and extreme weather.
The talks, running from 9 to 20 November 2026 at the Antalya Expo Centre, are the first UN climate summit hosted by Türkiye.
Murat Kurum, Türkiye’s Minister of Environment, Urbanisation and Climate Change, serves as COP31 President and has framed the gathering as an “Implementation COP” focused on delivering results rather than new pledges.
Australia’s Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen is leading the formal negotiations under a compromise arrangement agreed after both countries bid to host.
World leaders, negotiators, scientists, businesses and civil society groups are discussing clean energy, electrification, climate finance, adaptation and resilient cities under the theme “Where Dialogue Becomes Global Action”.
A key presidency goal is to raise electricity’s share of global final energy consumption to 35 per cent by 2035, up from around 20 per cent today, through a proposed “35-by-35” pledge.
TheCable is covering the conference from Antalya with exclusive interviews, reports and analysis of the negotiations.
Janefrances Chibundu, TheCable’s special correspondent on climate change, is examining Africa’s negotiating priorities, speaking with decision-makers and explaining what outcomes mean for Nigeria and the wider continent.
African negotiators have prioritised increased adaptation finance, expanded renewable energy access and a just transition mechanism, although a proposal to place tripling of adaptation finance on the formal agenda did not secure consensus.
The summit takes place against a backdrop of record warmth, intensifying extreme weather and competing global pressures including conflict and economic strain.
