COP31: Where dialogue becomes resilient action
COP31: Where dialogue becomes resilient action
The period 2015 to 2025 was confirmed as the warmest on record, and 2025 was among the warmest three years ever recorded.The trend extended to oceans which also saw the warmest and most acidic records in 2025. Drivers of these changes, specifically greenhouse gases (GHGs), ticked upward once again, with the highest concentrations ever recorded. Earth had the highest energy imbalance ever, thereby locking in more heat, a consequence of rising levels of GHGs.
In the spirit of strengthening multilateralism, this COP is a chance to leverage synergies across the Paris Agreement, the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development to enhance efficiency, reduce fragmentation, and accelerate implementation of all three agreements ahead of 2030.
The 31st Session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) or COP 31, will be taking place in Antalya, Türkiye, from 9-20 November 2026. Aligned with its mandate, the UN Secretary-General’s climate action priorities and the incoming COP31 Presidency, UNDRR’s call to action focuses on four areas.
State of the climate
2015-2025 warmest period on record; 2025 among the three warmest years ever
Record warmest and most acidic oceans ever measured in 2025
Highest greenhouse gas concentrations ever recorded and still rising
5 years left until the Sendai Framework and 2030 Agenda conclude
UNDRR’s call to action at COP31
Deliver on ambition — reduce emissions and build resilience for a safe future
Countries have submitted NDC 3.0, representing greater mitigation ambition and economy-wide action, including on adaptation and on averting, minimizing and addressing loss and damage. Synthesis of submitted NDCs will show how far Paris Agreement objectives are being met but implementation will be critical for success.
- Turn ambition into action: drive NDC 3.0 implementation that reduces disaster risk, builds resilience and protects development gains, while building momentum for the second Global Stocktake.
- Act now on extreme heat: scale up extreme heat-risk governance and resilience to protect lives, livelihoods and development gains.
Adapt and address loss and damage to protect vulnerable societies
Adaptation must remain a priority, in keeping with the Global Goal on Adaptation (GGA) and its targets. This makes investing in effective, end-to-end multi-hazard early warning systems that trigger anticipatory action critical to meeting the GGA and averting and minimizing loss and damage. At the same time, there is a critical need to connect finance with technical assistance, enabling environments, tools and capacities to translate resources into effective action at scale.
- Align the targets and indicators of the Global Goal on Adaptation with the Sendai Framework to accelerate the implementation of both by harnessing synergies.
- Make end-to-end and people-centred multi-hazard early warning systems a core component of climate adaptation and resilience investment, backed by sustained and pre-arranged financing.
- Turn loss and damage commitments into delivery: rapidly scale up the Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage and the Santiago Network to meet growing needs.
Transform financial systems to prevent disaster risks and strengthen climate resilience
Funding gaps persist and declining international assistance is adding pressure on countries. Maximizing the impact of existing finance is more important than ever. UNDRR has contributed DRR financing guidance and country examples to the updated Flagship Guide of the Coalition of Finance Ministers for Climate Action. Finance volumes must also rise to meet the new collective quantified goal and the commitment to triple adaptation finance.
- Increase financing for prevention, not only response: scale up accessible, predictable finance for DRR, adaptation, and resilient recovery, particularly in developing and vulnerable countries.
- Ministries of Finance should integrate disaster and climate risk into fiscal policy, budgeting, public investment and financing decisions, including by leveraging insights from the Global Observatory on DRR financing recently developed by UNDRR.
- Make resilience investable: Mobilize private capital at scale by embedding risk information, resilience standards and incentives across financial markets, building on UNDRR’s Guide for Adaptation and Resilience Finance.
Turn Rio Synergy into resilient action
As the culmination of the three Rio Convention COPs in 2026, COP31 offers a unique opportunity to move from parallel commitments to coherent implementation across climate, biodiversity and land. Better data, stronger policy coherence and risk-sensitive investments can serve as key levers for delivering joined-up action across the Rio Conventions, the Paris Agreement, the 2030 Agenda and the Sendai Framework. As countries report capacity constraints, limited resources and reporting burdens, a more coherent way of working can help to ease these challenges.
- Deliver resilience through Rio Synergy at national and local levels: align climate, biodiversity and land action with the Sendai Framework to turn policy coherence into action through comprehensive risk management and Making Cities Resilient.
- Make risk visible and actionable: strengthen data systems that enable preventative action, better investment and accountable delivery on adaptation and loss and damage.
- Put people at the centre of climate resilience: ensure those most at risk, especially women and girls, children and youth, persons with disabilities, displaced people and at-risk communities, meaningfully shape, implement and benefit from climate and disaster risk reduction action.
At COP31, UNDRR will focus on accelerating disaster risk reduction as a key means to strengthen climate action — translating ambition into measurable resilience outcomes.
UNDRR events and engagements at COP31
| Event | Day | Date | Time | Venue |
| Reading the Climate Signal: El Niño, Extreme Events and the Science Behind the Headline | TUE | 10-Nov | 18:30 - 20:00 | White Room |
| The Economist Group's closed door high-level roundtable “Forecasting the future: AI, weather prediction and national preparedness” | WED | 11-Nov | 13:00 -14:00 | Akra Hotel |
| Operationalizing water-related Belem Adaptation Indicators | THU | 12-Nov | 09:30-11:00 | Water Pavilion |
| Strengthening Governance Approaches for Climate-Resilient Cities | THU | 12-Nov | TBC | Room 4 |
| High-Level Event on Accelerating Early Warnings in Africa | THU | 12-Nov | TBC | Africa Pavilion |
| Breaking Silos, Building Resilience: Aligning Rio Conventions and Sendai Framework for sustainable development | FRI | 13-Nov | 13:15 - 14:45 | Side Event Room 7 - HASANKEYF |
| Operationalizing Comprehensive Risk Management: StrengtheningImplementation Capacity for Climate-ResilientDevelopment | FRI | 13-Nov | 16:00-18:00 | Room 4 |
| Early Warnings for All: Protecting Every Person, Scaling Investment, Sustaining Action Beyond 2027 | TBC | TBC | TBC | Conference Room X, Antalya Expo Center |
| Non-economic losses and mobility | SAT | 14-Nov | 13:00-14:00 | Human Mobility Hub |
| Assessing, tracking and responding to Non-economic losses | TUE | 17- Nov | 14:00-15:00 | Resilience Hub |
| The Human Side of Loss and Damage - Advancing Action on Non-Economic Loss and Damage | TUE | 17- Nov | 16:45-18:15 | Side Event Room 3 - ZERZEVAN |
| From Indicators to Impact: Measuring Adaptation and Resilience through the Belém Adaptation Indicators | THU | 19-Nov | 09:30-10:15 (TBC) | Resilience Hub |
| Resilience in action: Comprehensive Risk Management in an uncertain climate | THU | 19-Nov | TBC | Brazil Pavilion |