Addressing world leaders at the opening of the Leaders’ Summit in Antalya, UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell made the case that a clean energy revolution has taken hold.

“Today, chaos in global energy markets and climate disasters are supercharging inflation,” said Stiell. “Slamming government budgets, pushing household bills up and living standards down. The political costs of fossil fuel dependency are unforgiving. Climate action can help relieve the pressures.”

Stiell said that clean energy means secure energy and more stable economies – protected from fossil fuel volatility. 

“Building resilience to disasters protects your people, and strengthens the global supply chains on which every economy depends for low inflation growth,” he said.

Most sports were designed for an environment that no longer exists, and climate change is rapidly reshaping the future of sport, health, and wellbeing. From shrinking snow seasons and disappearing glaciers to extreme heat affecting training and competition, the changing climate is disrupting athlete performance, health, infrastructure, and fan engagement across all levels of sport, from community clubs to international competitions.

The UNFCCC Sports for Climate Action Framework provides a pathway for sports organizations to build resilience, share solutions, and mobilize collective climate action through engagement with cities, communities, athletes, and fans. Adapt2Win bring together more than 55 elite athletes across multiple sports to highlight how climate change is already affecting sport, the places people live and the communities they love.

Join us this afternoon at a special session to learn more and hear from athletes on the frontlines of the battle against climate change:

• Danielle Alakija, Fijian track and field athlete, Adapt2Win Athlete 

• Michelle Gisin, Swiss alpine skier 

• Charlotte Kalla, Swedish cross-country skier  

• Kevin Wekesa Nyongesa, Kenyan rugby sevens player, Adapt2Win Athlete 

• Marion Thénault, Canadian freestyle skier 

More info

Event: Adapt to Win: Protecting People, Health and the Future of Sport in a Changing Climate
Organized by: UNFCCC secretariat 
Format: Remarks and panel discussion with brief Q&A 
Time: 16:00-17:00 | Wednesday, 11 November 2026 
Location: Special Event Room 3 – Assos (COP 31 Blue Zone)  

Addressing world leaders at the opening of the COP31 Leaders’ Summit in Antalya, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said the world is moving far too slowly when it comes to taking action on climate change.

“Global emissions must fall around 6 per cent every year,” said Guterres. “Current national plans – including conditional ones – deliver at best one-third of that. Even if they are fully implemented, the world would be above 2.5 degrees by the end of this century, crossing dangerous and irreversible tipping points along the way.”

“We need an extraordinary acceleration,” urged Guterres. “Our planet is heating up.  The clock is winding down.  It’s make or bake time.”

Throughout human history, culture has been shaped by the stories we share in a given time and place, defining our values, determining our norms, and helping us imagine what comes next.

At COP31 in Antalya, UN Climate Change’s Entertainment and Culture for Climate Action (ECCA) initiative will bring together creative professionals, cultural leaders, storytellers, and climate advocates across three dedicated salons to explore how entertainment, culture, and creative industries can inspire meaningful climate action, strengthen public engagement, and bridge the gap between climate narratives and policy.

ECCA Salon 1 | From Cultural Influence to Climate Policy and Action

This Flagship Salon will explore how entertainment, culture, creative industries, and city leadership can translate cultural influence into meaningful climate policy and action.

Date: Wednesday, 11 November 2026
Time: 11:30–12:30 (Antalya time)
Location: COP31 Blue Zone | Special Event Room 4 (Perge Theatre)

ECCA Salon 2 | The Storytelling Experts: 5 Tips for Effective Climate Communication

Powerful storytelling can transform how audiences understand and respond to climate change.

Date: Thursday, 12 November 2026
Time: 15:00–16:00 (Antalya time)
Location: COP31 Blue Zone | Special Event Room 4 (Perge Theatre)

ECCA Salon 3 | Making Adaptation Personal: The FLOW Project and the Stories We Live By

Featuring the FLOW Project and creative voices, this session will highlight how cultural storytelling can amplify community experiences, inspire climate action, and connect lived experiences with climate adaptation policy.

Date: Saturday, 14 November 2026
Time: 17:00–18:00 (Antalya time)
Location: COP31 Blue Zone | Special Event Room 3 (Assos)

Explore what lies at the heart of climate action, of all action, in these three Salons, and celebrate the essential role of entertainment, culture, and storytelling in shaping a more inclusive and action-oriented response to climate change.

Additional speakers and programme details will be announced as confirmations are finalized. Please visit the Eventbrite registration pages for the latest updates.

Please note: All three events take place within the COP31 Blue Zone. Valid COP31 Blue Zone accreditation is required for entry. Eventbrite registration does not provide COP31 accreditation.

The two-day World Leaders Climate Action Summit kicks off today bringing together heads of state and government, ministers, and leaders of international organizations to discuss pressing climate change challenges and commitments.

The Summit is part of the official activities of the UN Climate Change Conference (COP31). Both the Summit and COP31 provide a platform for world leaders to raise ambition, translate climate pledges into concrete, real-economy outcomes.

António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations, and others, will speak at the Leaders’ Summit today.

More info

A schedule of events for the Antalya Leaders' Summit is available here.

Watch the opening ceremony of the Antalya Leaders’ Summit live starting at 12:15 (UTC+3) here.

UN Climate Change, TILT and Verified/Purpose, supported by YouTube and TikTok, will bring together social media creators who are helping change the way we talk about climate change.

In an age of information overload and climate disinformation, social media creators can translate complex information into compelling stories that build trust and inspire action.

Six content creators will bring different perspectives on what makes climate content resonate, how to navigate misinformation, and how creators can work together with scientists, journalists, communities and climate organisations while retaining their own voice.

When: 10 November 2026, 18:00-19:00
Where: Special Event Room 3

Electricity could cost-effectively meet 33 per cent of the world’s final energy consumption by 2035 – within striking distance of the proposed 35 per cent of the global electrification target, and up from just 23 per cent today, according to an IEA special report requested by the joint COP31 Presidency to inform COP31 discussions.

Amid this year’s Strait of Hormuz crisis, the second major energy shock in the past five years, momentum behind key electric technologies is growing as the world surges into the Age of Electricity: global electricity use has grown faster than economic output and nearly twice as fast as overall energy demand, driven by demand for air conditioning, data centres, advanced manufacturing and electric cars.

The report proposes 10 key actions and cross-cutting strategies to bridge this gap and hit the target, warning that attention must be paid to how the benefits and costs of electrification are distributed.

It provides an optimistic backdrop to this afternoon’s first Electrification Forum, co-hosted by the COP31 Presidency and the European Union. The Electrification Forum will continue beyond COP as a regular meeting of governments, institutions, businesses and financiers, and will be run by the Electrification Board, which is chaired by the COP31 Presidency with the IEA acting as its secretariat. 

As part of the same initiative, the IEA will lead the Global Electrification Tracking Mechanism to monitor global and regional electrification trends.

“Electric technologies are often cost-competitive and can improve energy security for fuel importers. COP31 is an important opportunity to strengthen the global focus on electrification, and the IEA is pleased to be supporting the Presidency including through our data-driven analysis that underpins the 35-by-35 Pledge. We look forward to maintaining momentum as custodian of the Electrification Forum and of tracking progress in the years to come,” said IEA Executive Director Dr Fatih Birol.

As world leaders convene in Antalya for COP31, new data from UN Women exposes a profound policy gap: while 73 per cent of nations acknowledge gender-specific climate risks in their climate action plans, just over one in three address them comprehensively.

This disconnect leaves over 1.5 billion women and girls globally facing acute, unmitigated climate threats. According to a new UN Women fact sheet, Gender Equality in the Age of Climate Crisis, rising temperatures translate directly to deepening gender inequality:

• Economic losses: A 1°C temperature increase sees women lose 34 per cent more income than men due to restricted mobility and fewer non-farm opportunities.
• Extreme poverty: Projected climate impacts could drive up to 141 million more women and girls into extreme poverty by 2050.
• Increased violence against women and girls: Resource shortages and droughts elevate gender-based violence, increasing sexual violence risks against young women and adolescent girls by 21 per cent.

To close this gap, UN Women advocates for targeted climate finance, equitable access to green jobs (aiming for 66 per cent representation), and full backing for the Belém Gender Action Plan.

Emphasizing the urgency of inclusive leadership, UN Women Executive Director Sima Bahous noted that empowering women with equal rights and resources is vital for driving necessary global change.

“Across the world, women are already leading the fight for a better future – in their communities, in laboratories, in parliaments and on the front lines of the climate crisis. We must give women and girls equal rights, resources and the power to lead, and they will help drive the change our world so urgently needs,” she said.

Read UN Women’s message to world leaders here.  

Read the press release and access the fact sheet here.

While world leaders gather for COP31 to negotiate the future of climate action, you can take action too.

Every day, millions of people turn to Wikipedia to understand climate change. It's one of the most visited sites on the planet, and it's written by volunteers. People like you.

Accurate climate information is out there, but it competes with mis- and disinformation for attention.

In this workshop you’ll

• Learn to edit Wikipedia with confidence under the supervision of trainers.
• Improve climate content so it reflects the best available science.
• Counter mis- and disinformation using Wikipedia.

Why join?

Your edits reach real people. A single well-sourced improvement can be read by thousands.

No experience needed. Wikipedia will guide you step by step.

You'll be part of something bigger. Work alongside researchers, students, and climate advocates from universities around the world.

You'll leave with a skill that lasts. Once you know how to edit, you can keep making a difference long after the workshop ends.

Bring your expertise + your curiosity. Whether you're a student, academic, communicator, or someone who cares about getting the facts right, you can contribute.

When

The event runs for 24 hours on the 11^th of November 2026 - you only need to join one of the online meeting slots on the day to participate.

Social media

• Stay up to date by following UN Climate Change on all major social media platforms, in English, French, Spanish and Russian.
• Join our WhatsApp channel for updates, announcements and stories at COP31, available in English, French, Spanish and Russian.

Photos

• Find high-resolution photography of many more key COP moments in real-time via our official Flickr.  
• All photos are free to use. Find attribution information by clicking on each image.

Webcast

• Our conference homepage has livestreams for Plenary rooms, press conference rooms and Global Climate Action.
• Open plenary meetings and press conferences have public webcast (live and on-demand) which are available on the COP 31 schedule page.

Documents

• Official COP documents are posted here as soon as available.  You can use our AskUNFCCC AI-powered bot to help find documents (pink pop-up, bottom right).

Conference calendar

• The conference calendar is updated throughout COP31 as meetings and events are confirmed. Additional meetings and webcast links are added progressively, so please check back regularly for the latest schedule and webcast information.

Leaders’ Summit

• A dedicated schedule of events for the Antalya Leaders' Summit is also available.

The COP31 Presidency will hold a press conference this morning at 11:00 a.m. in Press Conference Room Meylana.

Speakers include UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell, COP31 President Murat Kurum of Türkiye and President of COP31 Negotiations Chris Bowen of Australia.

The inclusion of Dynamic and Resilient Health Systems in the COP31 Presidency’s ten priority themes signals growing recognition that health is both a frontline impact of climate change and a foundation for effective climate response. Resilient health systems help countries anticipate, prevent and respond to climate-related health risks while advancing equity, continuity of care and long-term social resilience.

The dedicated COP31 Health Day took place on the first day of the Conference, today, coinciding with the thematic priorities on Food and Agriculture.

Speaking at the Health Day Ministerial Roundtable Meeting, UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell said health belongs at the heart of climate action.

“We need country-led programmes to build resilient health facilities, powered by clean power and enough clean water, protected by better surveillance and early warnings, with workers trained for the risks that are already here,” said Stiell.

Climate action by cities, regions, businesses and civil society continues to drive implementation, with progress made on 44 global indicators aligned with the first global stocktake. This is one of the key findings of the 2026 Yearbook of Global Climate Action, launched by UN Climate Change today.

“This Yearbook shows how businesses, cities, communities, and more are turning global commitments into change that people are seeing, feeling and benefiting from,” said UN Climate Change Executive Secretary, Simon Stiell. “But we can and must go much further, faster. COP 31 must help scale up solutions, mobilize finance and bring the benefits of climate action to many more people.”

Celebrating the 10 years of the Marrakech Partnership for Global Climate Action, the 2026 Yearbook comes at an important moment, as COP 31 is expected to have a strong focus on driving real-economy progress through the Global Climate Action Agenda, in parallel with – and complementary to – the progress needed through formal negotiations.

As well as the official opening, today at CO31 in Antalya is also focused on health, food and agriculture.

The World Meteorological Organization released its State of the Climate Update 2026 at COP31 this afternoon, with details of climate indicators like temperatures, ocean heat and sea level, and extreme weather. It shows impacts on health and food security, especially in light of the record El Niño.

The report was launched at a press conference with WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo, UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell and Wellcome’s Director of Climate and Health Alan Dangour.

The WMO Secretary-General's statement, press releases in all languages, the full report and digital assets are available here.

Press materials from Wellcome are available here, including: further quotes, health experts available for interview + media contacts, a digital resource hub which includes the survey data and methodology, and other key scientific facts, including that every 1C rise in temperatures correlates with: a 5% increase in premature births, and a 7% increase in gestational diabetes.

UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell addressed the official opening of COP31 today, calling for strong outcomes on the mandated negotiation items.

“The stronger the outcomes, the more they will help Parties convert their targets into real-world outcomes, spreading more benefits to more people,” said Stiell.

Stiell stressed that COP31 needs to “supercharge solutions” to tackle climate change, but he was also realistic about what it could deliver.

“No COP is a silver bullet. No single conference can bridge the chasm between the science and reality. We must deal with the world as it is, not as we might wish it to be. Every recent COP has delivered strides forward. This one must too,” he said.

Tune in now to watch the opening plenary of COP31 live.

A warm welcome to all in Antalya and to those following COP31 from many other places around the world!

Delegates and participants are now arriving at the COP31 venue, ready for the start of this year’s UN Climate Change Conference.

Watch the livestream of the COP31 opening plenary starting at 11:00 a.m. Antalya time (UTC +3) today. UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell will deliver a major speech during the opening plenary.

A schedule of other events taking place throughout the day is available here.

As COP31 gets underway in Antalya, several digital services are available to help participants find information, follow meetings and stay updated throughout the conference.

The Get COP Ready page provides practical guidance for participants, while the UNFCCC conference website offers the latest schedules, documents, webcasts and conference updates.

Registered participants can also use the UNFCCC COP31 Digital Platform to follow meetings online, connect with other participants and receive notifications about documents and conference information.

Additional practical and venue-related services are available through the host country's official digital channels.

Whether attending in person or following remotely, these resources can help participants navigate the conference and stay informed.

Two mobile apps are available to help participants navigate COP31, each offering different services.

• UNFCCC COP31 Digital Platform app: For registered Blue Zone participants, including accredited media, to follow meetings online, personalise their schedules, receive notifications and network with other participants. Please note that interactive meeting functions, including Q&A, are not available to media participants.
   
• COP31 Host Country app: For Green Zone events, venue information, Presidency initiatives, Party Pavilion schedules, transport, accommodation and other practical services around COP31.

For an overview of the available websites, apps and conference resources, visit Get ready for COP31.

With COP31 getting underway tomorrow, we wanted to remind everyone about the importance of upholding our Code of Conduct and rallying others to do the same:  

• Ensure a safe space: It's on all of us to maintain a respectful, safe, and inclusive environment.
• Report issues: Witness or experience a problem? Report it to UN security or email us here.  
• Follow rules: Respect event rules, protocols and UN procedures. 
• Show respect: Treat flags, name plates and UN symbols with respect. 

Privacy matters: Follow UN guidelines for photos and recordings. 

The UN Climate Change Conference (COP31) gets underway on Monday 9 November.

Delegates from around the world will convene in Antalya, Türkiye, for two weeks of crucial negotiations, dynamic discussions and global collaboration, all focused on tackling the climate crisis with urgency and ambition.

Stay up to date by following us here over the next two weeks, as well as on our WhatsApp channel and on social media.

Learn more about COP31 here, and about the process and origins of UN-convened climate cooperation here.

The UN Climate Change Conference (COP31) gets underway on Monday in Antalya, Türkiye.

With climate impacts inflicting growing human and economic costs in every country, every COP is a vital global moment that must deliver major progress, and COP31 is no exception.

Check out our latest UN Climate Change Quarterly Update to learn more about some of the key issues on the table at COP31.

The update captures key developments across mitigation, adaptation, transparency, Article 6, finance, and non-Party stakeholder engagement – as well as progress made through our Regional Collaboration Centres, the Global Climate Action Agenda and other initiatives.

It also outlines some of the major preparatory work that took place ahead of COP31, including our three reports on national adaptation plans (NAPs), nationally determined contributions (NDCs) and biennial transparency reports (BTRs) released last month, and other milestones on the road to COP31 in Antalya.
 

Three reports recently published by UN Climate Change show governments increasingly taking whole-of-economy, whole-of-society approaches to climate policy-making. However, the reports again show overall progress remains substantially insufficient, and highlight key barriers to further acceleration and implementation of national targets and pledges.

UN Climate Change is mandated to produce the three reports – the NDC Synthesis Report, the BTR Synthesis Report and the NAPs Progress Report – ahead of COP31.

• The Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) Synthesis Report provides further evidence of how countries are turning their Paris Agreement commitments into concrete actions and progress, by providing new data about progress being made and the major challenges that remain. 
• The National Adaptation Plan (NAP) Progress Report marks a shift from tracking the formulation of NAPs towards assessing their implementation. 
• The Biennial Transparency Report (BTR) Synthesis Report summarizes progress in implementing nationally determined contributions during the reporting period of the first round of BTRs (2020-2022). The report shows climate policymaking increasingly mainstreamed in many countries.

Parties, Observer States, UN organizations, IGOs and NGOs can register delegates for onsite or virtual participation in accordance with the published nomination and confirmation periods.

Participants are reminded that multiple registrations are not permitted and that conference badges must be used in accordance with UNFCCC rules.