UN warns of emissions gap ahead of COP31 summit in Türkiye

The United Nations Environment Programme has warned of a significant gap between current government emissions targets and the actions required to prevent catastrophic climate change. This warning comes ahead of the COP31 climate summit scheduled for November in Antalya, Türkiye.

A provisional UN list indicates a decline in high-level participation for the upcoming summit. Only 77 leaders are currently scheduled to speak, a notable decrease from the 116 leaders who participated at COP28 in Dubai. Among G20 nations, only Britain, Brazil, and China are listed as having heads of state or government scheduled to attend, alongside co-hosts Australia and Türkiye.

Several major emitters and global leaders are currently absent from the provisional list, including leaders from France, Germany, Italy, India, Russia, and Japan. Yvo de Boer, a former head of the UN climate secretariat, noted that the absence of nations expected to show leadership sends a negative signal during a critical period for climate action.