COP31 Climate Summit in Turkey to Proceed Without Official U.S. Delegation Amid Paris Agreement Concerns
The thirty-first Conference of the Parties (COP31) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change is scheduled to take place in Antalya, Turkey, from November 9 to 20. This year's summit is particularly notable as it coincides with the tenth anniversary of the Paris Agreement's entry into force, yet the United States, the world's second-largest and historically largest emitter, will not send an official delegation, having formally withdrawn from the agreement earlier this year. Despite the absence of an official U.S. delegation, members of Congress and U.S. businesses are still expected to attend. COP31 president Murat Kurum has set a goal to move beyond climate pledges towards concrete implementation of existing commitments, introducing an Action Agenda with 10 themes, including clean energy transition, zero waste, methane reduction, and climate-resilient cities. Voluntary pledges, such as increasing electricity's share of total energy consumption to 35% by 2035 and promoting sustainable artificial inte...
