Key facts
- Stiell said fossil fuel cost chaos had hit households hard and was spreading inflation like a cancer.
- Turkey and Australia are championing a voluntary goal to raise electricity's share of final energy consumption from one-fifth to one-third in ten years.
- Turkey said it expected 100,000 visitors, including at least 95 heads of state, at the two-week talks.
- A global leaders summit is scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday, November 11 and 12.
- Chris Bowen, president of the negotiations, said the 1.5C Paris target will be overshot but can be returned to.
- The high-ambition coalition said it has 20 country members pushing for progress in Antalya.
The UN's chief climate negotiator, Simon Stiell, told the opening plenary of Cop31 in Antalya, Turkey, on November 9, 2026 that a global fossil fuel price crisis was spreading inflation like a cancer around the planet. Stiell joined Cop31 hosts Turkey and Australia, which is leading the negotiations, in promoting renewable energy and a new electrification goal.
Turkey said it expected 100,000 visitors, including national delegations, to attend the two-week talks, including at least 95 heads of state. A global leaders summit is scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday, November 11 and 12. The talks are under pressure to deliver after growing dissatisfaction with the pace of results.
Stiell said fossil fuel cost chaos had delivered a global shock wave, hitting households hard. The body attributes a 50% rise in petrol prices around the world to US President Donald Trump's war with Iraq and the disruption of the Strait of Hormuz oil supply route, which it says raised inflation and slowed economic growth.
Australia's climate change minister, Chris Bowen, the president of the negotiations, said in a speech that although the 1.5C Paris target will be overshot, it can be returned to if countries work together with urgency, solidarity and resolve. Bowen said he had spoken to countries represented at the talks and there was enormous momentum for electrification, with a goal to raise the share of final energy consumption coming from electricity from one-fifth to one-third in the next ten years.
Dr Fatih Birol, executive director of the International Energy Agency, said he saw great appetite among many countries to be part of a decision in Antalya on electrification. He said endorsing the 2035 target would give an unmistakable signal to markets and a chance to increase both renewable and nuclear electricity. Countries agreed at the 2023 climate summit to triple renewable energy capacity by 2030.
The high-ambition coalition said it has 20 country members pushing for progress in Antalya. Jess Gasper, an environmental official for the Marshall Islands, said the 1.5C limit is in serious danger but overshoot should never become an excuse for inaction. Gasper said it took eight years to get international finance to build a single sea wall to help protect the Marshall Islands.
UN secretary general António Guterres urged leaders to get serious by cutting emissions faster, accelerating a just transition from fossil fuels and delivering the finance and protection vulnerable countries need. The talks opened without a fight over the agenda, which many considered a good sign.