What to know about COP31: International climate conference begins Monday

Government officials, scientists, climate organizations and business leaders from around the world are set to come together in Turkey this week for the annual international climate conference, COP31. And for the second year in a row, an official Trump administration delegation will not be present.

Short for the 31st Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the conference is part of a multinational treaty that was adopted in 1992. When the Paris Agreement was signed in 2015, COPs became a primary tool for working out the details on how to achieve the goals of the agreement.

The annual meetings are the forum for countries, non-governmental organizations, and other interested parties to discuss global efforts to combat human-induced climate change and negotiate agreements on topics such as mitigation, financing and adaptation.

This year's conference is being held in Antalya, Turkey.

COP31 leadership says the conference presents an important opportunity for countries to strengthen cooperation and accelerate climate action, describing it as both an "implementation COP" and a "COP of the future," with a focus on translating commitments into clear, measurable progress.

Why is the U.S. not officially attending COP31?

Nearly 200 countries participate in the UNFCCC, and most attend the COP annually.

On the first day of his second term, President Donald Trump signed an executive order announcing that the U.S. would withdraw from the Paris Agreement for the second time.

The U.S. is also withdrawing from the UNFCCC, following an executive order signed by Trump on January 7. This withdrawal will become official next year.

While federal U.S. representation will be absent from COP31, state and local leaders, as well as scientists, advocates, community leaders and members of non-governmental organizations from across the country will be attending.

A U.S. delegation of more than 100 leaders will participate in COP31, including U.S. governors, mayors and other top city and state officials, organized by America Is All In, Climate Mayors and the U.S. Climate Alliance.

"America Is All In is showing up in force at COP31 to let the world know that millions of Americans are still in," said Gina McCarthy, America Is All In Chair, 13th U.S. EPA administrator, and former White House National Climate advisor. "Mayors, governors, and cross-sector leaders from all across our country will be in Türkiye to demonstrate the strength of U.S. subnational climate leadership and build partnerships and solutions that advance people's lives everywhere."

What's on the agenda for COP31?

COP31 leaders say turning collective ambition into concrete action has become increasingly urgent. This year, the conference will focus on several priority themes, including the clean energy transition and electrification, waste and methane reduction, climate-resilient cities, youth and education and advancing climate finance commitments, an issue that the body has struggled with in the past.

Recent reports from the U.N. and independent organizations reveal a substantial gap between countries' pledges on emissions reductions and what is required to limit additional global warming in the coming decades.

"Last year in Brazil, a focus was on adaptation and helping vulnerable countries and communities pay for and manage the consequences of climate change. I would like to see COP31 be a place where we focus on how to deliver," Dr. Alexis Abramson, Dean of Columbia Climate School, told ABC News.

Delegates will also work on several proposed global goals, including increasing the share of energy demand met by electricity from just over 20% in 2024 to 35% by 2035. The hope is that by electrifying more industries and communities, clean renewable power can replace fossil fuel generation and reduce those greenhouse gas emissions.

Climate groups tell ABC News that they would also like to see more attention paid to adapting to the dangers of climate change, including funding efforts to protect communities from the most severe impacts. And after the damage is done, they want to see more international funds available to cover the repairs and losses, especially for poorer countries.

"COP 31 really needs to be the moment when adaptation and loss and damage move from the margins to the center of climate action," said Adelle Thomas, Senior Director of Climate Adaptation at the National Resources Defense Council. "An overall framing for this COP in particular is that we need to stop treating mitigation, adaptation, and loss and damage as competing priorities."

The rapid growth of artificial intelligence and data centers is also a key part of the conference's agenda as rising demand for computing power raises concerns about energy resources and environmental impacts.

Ahead of the conference, leaders released the Antalya Artificial Intelligence Pledge, inviting countries and organizations to sign on voluntarily. The pledge aims to address mounting concerns, while also evaluating it as a potential new tool to drive climate action.

"We must openly discuss AI's growing energy ​consumption, and it is time for governments to start setting the terms. ​We expect companies to be transparent about their energy use and to power their operations with clean energy," Kurum said.

While the pledge signals a growing commitment to addressing the environmental impact, questions remain about accountability, transparency and how progress will be measured.

"Responsibly managing AI requires establishing strong guardrails: powering data centers with clean energy, mandating full disclosure, including of AI companies' energy and water use and system impacts, requiring companies to pay for their own grid upgrades, and giving local communities a genuine seat at the table from day one," said Evan Tachovsky, Chief Data and AI Officer at World Resources Institute.

Global efforts continue to fall short

COP31 comes at a time when many key indicators show the world is falling further behind on several climate goals.

According to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the planet is on track to officially breach the Paris Agreement's 1.5-degree Celsius warming threshold within the next few years, and is now encouraging countries to shift their focus to limiting further warming.

"Overshoot is not surrender. We can still keep it as small and as short as possible -- and bring temperatures back below 1.5 degrees by the end of the century," UN Secretary-General António Guterres said in a statement.

Atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) levels surged to a new record high in 2025, surpassing 2024, according to the World Meteorological Organization.

Since the 1960s, the growth rate of atmospheric CO2 has tripled, accelerating from an annual average increase of 0.8 ppm per year to 2.4 ppm per year between 2011 to 2020. Concentrations of two other long-lived greenhouse gases linked to human activities, methane and nitrous oxide, also reached new record highs last year.

These greenhouse gases are the primary driver of human-induced climate change.

Despite these challenges, the report points to significant progress since the adoption of the Paris Agreement, with expanding opportunities to accelerate action. Renewable energy has grown rapidly, coal and oil use has increased more slowly than projected, and policies have helped lower emissions in many countries.

"We have a wealth of success stories showing that emissions can be cut quickly. It is now up to nations to urgently put in place policies that spark fast, deep and sustained emissions reductions, and put the world on track for a more stable climate and more stable economies and societies," said Inger Andersen, Executive Director of UNEP.

Whether COP31 will result in agreements on these policies remains to be seen. But climate experts told ABC News that success in Turkey shouldn't be measured only by what happens in the negotiating sessions. Rather, they say that much of the work, known as the Action Agenda, gets done in smaller meetings and one-on-one discussions.

For many leaders working to prevent the worst impacts of climate change, COPs are a rare opportunity to get in-person time with the people who do have the power and knowledge to implement the vision of the original Paris Agreement and move the needle.