What to know about this year’s UN climate talks
" data-chronoton-post-id="1148308" data-chronoton-expand-collapse="1" data-chronoton-analytics-enabled="1"> It’s that time of year again: Thousands of delegates, lobbyists, and journalists are gathered for the annual UN climate talks, taking place this time in Antalya, Turkey.
- In a report published in September, the UN Environment Program acknowledged that global warming is set to exceed that 1.5 °C goal, “likely within the next few years.” So as climate talks kick off, there’s an obvious, urgent question looming about how to quickly cut emissions to limit warming.
- Meanwhile, things aren’t looking good for the Paris Agreement, which was established at UN climate talks 11 years ago, setting a goal of limiting warming to 1.5 °C over preindustrial levels.
- President Trump formally withdrew the country from the Paris Agreement earlier this year and is in the process of withdrawing from the UN Framework Committee on Climate Change.
Two years ago, talks ended in a goal of mobilizing $300 billion per year by 2035 to help pay to reduce emissions and adapt to climate change.
And this year’s talks are sure to be a doozy—expect a lot of back and forth on fossil fuels and climate finance in particular.
- The money problem: Rich nations promised $300 billion a year by 2035 for climate action, but delivered less than half that in 2024.
- Turkey and Australia are cohosting this year’s talks, which are scheduled to wrap up on November 20.
- (COP stands for “Conference of the Parties.”) But this year feels especially charged: The world is still grappling with the ongoing war in Iran, which has disrupted the Middle East and sent economic shock waves around the world as energy prices have spiked.
- (Such funding has been quite flat over the past few years.) The world got a tragic reminder of just how high the stakes are earlier this year, when a glacier collapse caused devastating flooding in the Himalayas.
- COP31 officially kicked off on November 8, marking the beginning of negotiations on one of the biggest stages of the climate world.
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