COP31: The climate summit where promises must become practice
As the world prepares for COP31 in Antalya, the test is shifting from setting climate targets to delivering them — with consequences extending from governments and global corporations to small businesses, not-for-profits and local communities.
When delegates gather in Antalya, Türkiye, from 9 to 20 November 2026 for the 31st United Nations Climate Change Conference, they will arrive at a moment when the central climate question is no longer simply whether countries can agree on ambitious goals. Increasingly, it is whether those goals can be translated into changes people can see, finance and implement.
COP31 is being deliberately positioned around that challenge. Türkiye will host the conference and hold the COP presidency, while Australia’s Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen will serve as President of Negotiations under an unusual Türkiye-Australia partnership arrangement. Before Antalya, a pre-COP gathering will take place in Fiji from 5 to 8 October, accompanied by a leaders’ event in Tuvalu — bringing the concerns of climate-vulnerable Pacific nations directly into the diplomatic process. (UNFCCC)
The conference therefore arrives with both geographical and political symbolism. But symbolism alone will not be enough.
From ambition to implementation
The incoming COP31 presidency describes Antalya as both an “Implementation COP” and a “COP of the Future”. Its stated priorities include electrification and the energy transition, zero waste and the circular economy, resilient cities and infrastructure, sustainable agriculture and food systems, green industrial transformation, climate finance and stronger protection for vulnerable regions and ecosystems. (UNFCCC)
That focus reflects the unfinished business inherited from previous climate conferences.
The Paris Agreement created a cycle in which countries periodically strengthen their Nationally Determined Contributions, or NDCs — the national plans setting out how they intend to reduce emissions and adapt to climate change. There has been progress. An updated UNFCCC analysis released at COP30 projected that the new NDCs submitted by 113 Parties would reduce global
greenhouse gas emissions in 2035 by around 12 per cent compared with 2019 levels. (UNFCCC)
Yet the gap between progress and what climate science indicates is necessary remains substantial. UNEP’s 2025 Emissions Gap Report estimated that full implementation of current NDCs would still place the world on a trajectory of approximately 2.3°C to 2.5°C of warming this century. Under existing policies, the projection was around 2.8°C. (UNEP – UN Environment Programme)
That is why implementation matters so much. Climate diplomacy can bend the emissions curve, but agreements have limited value if national policies, infrastructure, investment and business decisions do not follow.
COP31 moves closer to the real economy
The practical orientation of COP31 is especially apparent in its Global Climate Action Agenda. The presidency has proposed raising the share of final global energy demand met through electricity from just over 20 per cent to 35 per cent by 2035. It also wants to halve the growth in global waste, reduce energy-consumption intensity in buildings by at least 25 per cent, and increase the global circular material-use rate to at least 15 per cent. (UNFCCC)
These may sound like international policy objectives, but their implementation reaches directly into everyday economic activity.
Electrification affects transport fleets, heating, manufacturing and energy infrastructure. Circular economy policies influence packaging, product design, waste management and procurement. More efficient buildings affect landlords, tenants, construction businesses and community organisations. Climate-resilient food systems influence farmers, processors, retailers and charities dealing with food security.
For small and medium-sized enterprises, this transition presents both opportunity and strain. OECD research notes that SMEs account for more than 90 per cent of businesses globally and more than half of business employment and value added. Yet many face persistent barriers to sustainability investment, including limited finance, skills and internal capacity. OECD work also shows that sustainability information is increasingly relevant to access to finance and participation in global value chains. (OECD)
That means a business does not need to attend COP31 to be affected by what emerges from it.
Different countries, connected markets
The geographical picture is complex.
The European Union has submitted an indicative 2035 NDC of a 66.25 to 72.5 per cent net emissions reduction from 1990 levels. The United Kingdom has committed to at least an 81 per cent reduction from 1990 levels. Canada’s target is 45 to 50 per cent below 2005 levels, Australia’s is 62 to 70 per cent below 2005 levels, and New Zealand has set a 51 to 55 per cent reduction below gross 2005 emissions by 2035. These figures are not directly comparable because countries use different baselines and accounting approaches, but collectively they point towards substantial economic change over the coming decade. (European Commission)
India, meanwhile, submitted its 2031–2035 NDC in April 2026. It includes a commitment to reduce the emissions intensity of GDP by 47 per cent from 2005 levels and to reach 60 per cent cumulative installed electricity capacity from non-fossil-fuel sources by 2035. (Press Information Bureau)
The United States is moving in a different federal direction. Its withdrawal from the Paris Agreement took effect on 27 January 2026. (United Nations Treaty Collection)
For businesses, however, climate policy does not stop neatly at national borders. Companies exporting into Europe, supplying larger corporations, seeking finance or participating in international procurement may encounter sustainability expectations regardless of their home government’s position. Climate-related physical risks — fires, floods, storms, heat and supply-chain disruption — are even less respectful of political boundaries. OECD research published in 2026 highlights growing business exposure to precisely these disruptions. (OECD)
Finance will determine credibility
The other major test for COP31 will be money.
COP29 established a goal of at least US$300 billion annually in climate finance for developing countries by 2035, alongside a wider effort to scale public and private flows to at least US$1.3 trillion per year. COP30 subsequently called for adaptation finance to be tripled by 2035. (UNFCCC)
COP31 must help move these figures from diplomatic commitments towards accessible investment.
That distinction matters particularly for smaller organisations. Climate finance that exists on paper but cannot be accessed by municipalities, community groups, social enterprises, SMEs and local projects will struggle to deliver transformational results.
UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell has argued that the US$1.3 trillion finance agenda must reach those implementing solutions on the ground, including small businesses and local communities. (UNFCCC)
For not-for-profits, this is especially important. NFPs are frequently close to communities experiencing heat, flooding, food insecurity, displacement and ecosystem decline. Their role is not limited to campaigning for climate action; many will increasingly become part of the infrastructure through which adaptation, community resilience, education and recovery are delivered.
Climate action is SDG action
COP31 also needs to be viewed through the broader Sustainable Development Goals.
SDG 13 on Climate Action is the most direct connection, but the conference’s agenda reaches much further. Resilient buildings and infrastructure advance SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities. Circular production and waste reduction support SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production. Ocean resilience is fundamental to SDG 14: Life Below Water, while forests, ecosystems and biodiversity connect directly with SDG 15: Life on Land.
Transparent, inclusive and accountable climate governance reinforces SDG 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions, while the entire international climate process depends on SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals.
These connections are increasingly important because the clock on the 2030 Agenda is also running down. The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals Report 2026 warns that progress remains uneven and insufficient, calling for a decisive acceleration of proven solutions, investment, international cooperation and the energy transition. (DESA Publications)
What organisations can do now
Businesses and NFPs do not need to wait for the final gavel in Antalya.
A practical starting point is to understand where climate change already intersects with operations: energy use, buildings, transport, procurement, waste, insurance, supply chains and exposure to extreme weather. Smaller organisations can begin collecting basic environmental information, examining where customers or funders may request sustainability data, strengthening business continuity planning and looking for partnerships that make adaptation or emissions reduction affordable.
For NFPs, documenting community needs and measurable outcomes may become increasingly important as governments and financiers seek climate projects capable of moving quickly from policy commitments to implementation.
None of these steps requires an organisation to predict every decision COP31 will make. They are responses to a transition already under way.
And that may ultimately be the standard against which Antalya should be judged.
The success of COP31 will not rest only on the number of declarations issued or negotiating texts agreed. It will depend on whether governments can turn national plans into investable projects; whether finance can reach those capable of using it; whether cities and communities become more resilient; whether businesses can participate without smaller enterprises being overwhelmed; and whether climate action accelerates rather than competes with the broader Sustainable Development Goals.
The world has spent more than a decade building the architecture of the Paris Agreement. COP31 arrives at a point when that architecture must increasingly produce visible results.
For governments, business, civil society and communities alike, Antalya’s most important message may therefore be a simple one: the era of climate commitments is not over — but the era of proving that they can be delivered has begun.
