ANTALYA: The leaders’ segment of the COP31 climate summit will take place in Antalya on 11–12 November 2026, with 77 heads of state and government listed to address the conference, according to a provisional speakers’ list published by the United Nations — nearly a third fewer than the 116 leaders who spoke at COP28 in Dubai three years ago.
China confirmed on 4 November that Vice-President Han Zheng will travel to Türkiye from 6 to 12 November and attend the Antalya Leaders’ Summit as the special representative of President Xi Jinping, giving the two-day gathering a senior voice from the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases.
COP31 itself opens on Monday, 9 November, at the Antalya Expo Center, with Türkiye holding the presidency and Australia leading the formal negotiations under a shared arrangement agreed last year. The leaders’ summit, formally the World Leaders Climate Action Summit, is the highest-level segment of the two-week conference.
Who is coming to Antalya
The early speakers’ list, reported by Climate Home News, shows a relatively low-key turnout. Apart from the two co-hosts, the only G20 nations whose leaders are listed to speak at head of state or government level are the United Kingdom, Brazil and China. Among the few big names expected are Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who will arrive in Antalya on 10 November, British Prime Minister Andy Burnham and Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez.
India is not sending its top leader, according to Climate Home News, and China’s announcement means President Xi himself will stay away, with Vice-President Han representing him instead.
Yvo de Boer, a former head of the UN climate secretariat, told Climate Home News that the low turnout and “the absence of many nations that should be showing leadership on climate action and support for developing nations” sends “the wrong signal at a difficult time”.
The presidency had earlier reported a higher figure: environment minister Murat Kurum said on 1 November that Türkiye had received confirmations from 91 heads of state and government. The difference reflects the provisional nature of the speakers’ list, which the United Nations notes is subject to change, and the fact that not every confirmed leader is scheduled to deliver a national statement.
Opening ceremony and the two-day schedule
Leaders will be welcomed on arrival by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and UN Secretary-General António Guterres, with Erdoğan, Guterres and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese scheduled to deliver remarks at the opening ceremony, according to Deputy Foreign Minister Berris Ekinci. The first day will conclude with a gala dinner hosted by President Erdoğan and First Lady Emine Erdoğan.
The United Nations has published a preliminary schedule of the high-level events around the summit. On Wednesday, 11 November, the programme includes a high-level dialogue on the clean energy transition and electrification — “35 by 35: Powering the Future” — from 15:00 to 16:30, a session on Early Warnings for All, and a leaders’ roundtable on zero waste. On Thursday, 12 November, the United Kingdom hosts a summit on zero waste and methane, alongside a high-level dialogue on urban resilience and a leaders’ roundtable on clean cooking.
The youth conference COY21, which opened in Antalya on 5 November, handed its Global Youth Statement 2026 to the COP process ahead of the leaders’ arrival.
What leaders will be asked to decide
The centrepiece of the leaders’ segment is expected to be Türkiye’s flagship electrification pledge, which asks countries to raise electricity’s share of global energy consumption from around 23 per cent today to 35 per cent by 2035. The pledge is due to be formally launched on Energy Day, 10 November, when the presidency will reveal which countries have signed up. Australia is already on the list, and European countries are also expected to back it.
But the goal will be hard to reach on current policies: analysis by Climate Action Tracker puts electricity’s share at only 28 per cent by 2035, meaning the share would need to grow by around one percentage point a year. Campaigners have also criticised the pledge for failing to commit explicitly to producing the extra power from clean energy sources.
Leaders will also be watched for commitments on national plans to transition away from fossil fuels and to cut deforestation, and for any new pledges of climate finance. On finance, Climate Home News reports that the European Union is coming empty-handed, while the Adaptation Fund will be seeking contributions from donor governments and developing countries will push for a number to be put on last year’s vague goal of tripling adaptation finance by 2035.
Another test is the voluntary fossil-fuel transition roadmap unveiled by the COP30 presidency on 3 November. The 182-page document sets out a three-stage timetable to 2033, advising countries to draw up national transition plans by 2028, prioritise clean-energy build-out in 2029–30, and make the main push to cut fossil-fuel production only from 2030 onwards. Whether any reference to it enters the COP31 cover decision — the summit’s main negotiated outcome — remains contested, with fossil-fuel producers opposed.
COP31 opens without an official United States delegation, after Washington formally withdrew from the Paris Agreement early this year, although a 19-member congressional delegation will attend. The summit also marks the tenth anniversary of the Paris Agreement entering into force and will launch the second global stocktake, the agreement’s formal process for assessing collective progress.
Key facts
- What: Antalya Leaders’ Summit (World Leaders Climate Action Summit), the highest-level segment of COP31
- When: 11–12 November 2026; COP31 runs 9–20 November 2026
- Where: Antalya Expo Center, Antalya, Türkiye
- Who: 77 leaders listed to speak on the provisional UN list; 91 confirmations reported by the presidency
- Co-hosts: Türkiye holds the presidency (Murat Kurum); Australia leads the negotiations (Chris Bowen)
- On the agenda: the 35-by-35 electrification pledge, fossil-fuel transition, deforestation, climate finance and adaptation
