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The 31st UN Climate Change Conference, or COP31, will be held in the Turkish Mediterranean city of Antalya from November 9 to 20, with implementation of climate commitments expected to take centre stage.
The conference will be hosted at the Antalya Expo Centre, bringing together representatives of governments, heads of state and government, ministers, climate negotiators, scientists, international organisations, businesses, environmental groups and civil society from around the world.
The key question facing COP31 is how to narrow the gap between climate pledges made over the past decade and their implementation on the ground.
Turkey’s COP31 presidency has placed “dialogue, consensus and action” at the heart of the conference preparations, with the aim of translating the Paris Agreement commitments into concrete action.
Turkey’s Environment, Urbanisation and Climate Change Minister and COP31 President-Designate Murat Kurum has identified the financing gap facing developing countries as one of the major challenges to implementing their climate targets.
Climate finance is therefore expected to be one of the central issues in Antalya, including questions over who will provide the money, how much will be made available and how quickly and on what terms it will reach climate-vulnerable countries.
At COP29 in 2024, countries agreed to increase climate finance for developing countries to $300 billion a year by 2035. However, developing countries have argued that the amount falls far short of their needs.
The scale of the financing gap is expected to remain a major issue at COP31, with calls for much larger flows of funds to help developing countries implement their climate targets.
For Bangladesh, the conference is particularly important as the country faces severe climate impacts despite contributing relatively little to global greenhouse gas emissions. Floods, cyclones, river erosion, salinity, storm surges, rising temperatures and climate-related pressures on agriculture and livelihoods are becoming increasingly serious challenges.
The UN Development Programme has estimated that Bangladesh needs more than $26 billion a year in climate finance. Much of the funding is required for adaptation and to address losses and damage caused by climate change.
Bangladesh submitted its third Nationally Determined Contribution, or NDC 3.0, in September 2025. It set a target of cutting total greenhouse gas emissions by 20.31 per cent from a business-as-usual scenario by 2035. Of this, 6.39 per cent is expected to come from domestic efforts, while another 13.92 per cent depends on international support.
This makes international finance, technology transfer and capacity building particularly important for Bangladesh. Turning international commitments into concrete projects is expected to be a major priority for the country at COP31.
Loss and Damage is another key issue for climate-vulnerable countries. The Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage was established to support particularly vulnerable developing countries facing economic and non-economic losses caused by climate change.
For Bangladesh, the effectiveness of the fund will depend not only on how much money is pledged but also on how quickly and easily the funds can reach affected countries.
Adaptation is also expected to receive significant attention at COP31. For Bangladesh, priorities include embankments and river management, cyclone shelters, climate-resilient agriculture, safe water, coastal protection, early-warning systems, resilient infrastructure and post-disaster rehabilitation.
The conference will also mark the beginning of the second Global Stocktake under the Paris Agreement. The process will assess global progress, identify gaps and determine what further action is needed. The second stocktake is scheduled to begin at COP31 and conclude at COP33 in November 2028.
The COP31 presidency has also highlighted broader targets, including increasing the share of electricity in final energy demand to 35 per cent by 2035, halving the growth rate of global waste by 2035 and reducing energy-use intensity in buildings by at least 25 per cent.
Turkey is also promoting a “Zero Waste” approach as part of the COP31 process, potentially bringing waste management, green industries, renewable energy and climate-resilient urban infrastructure into greater focus.
The conference will follow a special arrangement between Turkey and Australia. Turkey will host and preside over the conference, while Australia will lead the negotiations.
The talks are expected to be difficult amid geopolitical tensions, energy security concerns and economic pressures. Long-standing differences between developed and developing countries over responsibility, finance and the transition away from fossil fuels are likely to resurface.
Other major issues will include renewable energy, technology transfer, adaptation, Loss and Damage, carbon markets and capacity building in developing countries.
For Bangladesh, three issues are likely to remain at the forefront: climate finance, adaptation and Loss and Damage. Experts have stressed the need not only for new pledges but also for faster access to existing climate funds on easier terms.
Bangladesh is also expected to push for a greater share of climate finance to come as grants and concessional funding rather than loans, given the country’s limited contribution to climate change and its high vulnerability to its impacts.
The success of COP31 will therefore be judged not simply by the final declaration, but by whether financial commitments translate into actual funding, whether new NDCs are implemented and whether vulnerable communities see tangible improvements.
For Bangladesh, the real test will be whether diplomatic commitments made in Antalya lead to stronger coastal protection, reduced river erosion, climate-resilient agriculture, safer water supplies, better disaster preparedness and improved lives for people affected by climate change.