Two weeks of climate talks get under way in Antalya, shortly after the warmest October Copernicus has measured

The UN climate conference COP31 opens today in Antalya, Türkiye, and runs until 20 November. Türkiye holds the presidency and sets the agenda of voluntary action, while Australia runs the actual negotiations, an unusual split resulting from a compromise between the two candidate hosts, Euronews and RTBF write. RTBF expects more than 100,000 participants. The US government is not sending an official delegation, though members of Congress and American businesses will attend.

Türkiye wants countries to commit to raising electricity's share of global energy demand from about 20 to 35 percent by 2035. The EU wants that power to come from clean sources, RTBF reports. Moving away from fossil fuels is not formally on the agenda but remains a point of contention, according to Euronews. Money for adaptation will also be hard fought, with African countries asking for it to be tripled. Work also begins on the second global stocktake of the Paris Agreement.

The summit starts shortly after the European climate service Copernicus reported that October 2026 was the warmest October on record worldwide, 1.75 degrees above pre-industrial levels, boosted by an exceptionally strong El Niño. Copernicus says it is virtually certain that 2026 as a whole will come in more than 1.5 degrees warmer.

For Belgium, Flanders takes its turn this year in the rotation between governments. Flemish climate minister Melissa Depraetere (Vooruit) travels with federal minister Jean-Luc Crucke (Les Engagés) and Brussels state secretary Ans Persoons (Vooruit), Business AM reported. According to L'Avenir, the Belgian NGO Humundi wants, among other things, the fossil fuel phase-out back on the table and more climate finance for small farmers.