COP31 News: 2026 United Nations Climate Conference Preview, Discussions, Goals and More

COP31, the United Nations climate conference for 2026, will face multiple geopolitical challenges during the gathering in Türkiye. But the event may also set the stage for new technology, AI (artificial intelligence), energy and IT service provider developments that improve power management and drive carbon reduction.

COP31 -- scheduled for November 9-20 in Antalya, Türkiye -- will involve a shared leadership model. Türkiye will host and Murat Kurum (pictured above) will serve as president of COP31. But Australia will drive various conference negotiations.

Countdown to COP31 in Türkiye: Planning Challenges and Opportunities

The overall event will seek to tackle various climate change challenges while overcoming multiple geopolitical issues. Chief among them:

• The United States, under the Trump administration, has scaled back or completely eliminated various climate mandates and regulations.
• Tthe European Union (EU) has weakened multiple regulations -- including CSRD (Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive).
• Some political leaders and climate technology companies skipped COP30 amid high costs for accommodations, a shortage of hotel rooms, and geopolitical headwinds in certain countries and regions.
• The COP29 event, held in Baku, Azerbaijan in 2024, faced heavy skepticism because of the host country's fossil fuel interests.

Still, leaders from dozens of companies are expected to attend COP31. Moreover, IT service providers and technology businesses often attend the annual conference to navigate carbon reduction, energy and AI challenges and opportunities.

The timeline below, updated regularly, tracks all news before and during the event. Here's the scorecard so far:

December 2025: COP31 United Nations Conference News and Climate Event Updates

December 26 - COP31 Leader: Türkiye has officially designated Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change Minister Murat Kurum as president of COP31, formalizing the country's role as host of the major 2026 global summit, Türkiye Today reported.

December 22 - Shared Leadership : By splitting leadership on hosting (Turkiye) and negotiation (Australia), the arrangement reduces domestic political risk and decreases cost, whilst creating space for inclusive, cross-cutting collaboration, Dialog Earth asserted.

November 2025 COP31 Conference News and Updates

November 28 - Location and Leadership Updates: COP31 will take place in late 2026 in the Mediterranean city of Antalya. While a representative from Turkey will be formally elected as “the president”, Australia will appoint a vice-president to lead the negotiations. (Source: The Conversation)

November 24 - Conference Location: Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan praised a deal reached with Australia for Turkey to host COP31, calling the compromise a meaningful achievement for multilateralism. Moreover, Australia will play a major role in the overall lead up to the event. (Sources: Reuters,. and the Australia Minister of Foreign Affairs)

November 24 - COP30 Closing Deal: The closing COP30 deal didn't detail plans for shifting away from oil, gas and coal, and dodged an explicit mention of them, leaving some countries unhappy with the outcome. Indeed, the closing deal aims to boost finances for poor nations coping with global warming, but lacks any mention of fossil fuels.(Sources: Bloomberg and ABC)

November 19 - Location Debate: Australia will not oppose a successful Turkish bid to host COP31, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said, warning a prolonged standoff over hosting rights could undermine unity required to help the Pacific island nations. (Source: Reuters) 

November 17 - Location Debate: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Australia would not co-host COP31 with Turkey amid an ongoing stalemate between the two countries over which one should stage the 2026 conference. (Source: Reuters).

November 14 - Location Debate: Australia and Turkey are both vying to host COP31 in 2026, a contest that broke into full view at COP30 in Brazil. (Source: Bloomberg)

November 13 - Australia Net Zero Debate: Australia’s main opposition Liberal Party dropped a commitment to hit net zero emissions by 2050, potentially complicating Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s efforts to win support to host COP31 in 2026, Bloomberg reported.

Additional United Nations Climate Summit Updates and COP31 News Tips

More News Coming: Check back regularly for news updates involving the global energy transition, green IT services, renewable energy, sustainability, transitions from fossil fuels, and more.

Got COP31 news to share? Email Editorial Director Joe Panettieri the details.