COP31 in Antalya: what it means for your ESG strategy

01COP31 at a glance

• Dates and venue: 9–20 November 2026, Antalya Expo Center, with a World Leaders’ Summit on 11–12 November.
• Presidency: Türkiye hosts and presides, with Minister Murat Kurum as COP President. Australia’s Chris Bowen leads the negotiations under a shared arrangement agreed in November 2025.
• Pre-COP: held on 5–8 October 2026 in Fiji, with a leaders’ event in Tuvalu, bringing Pacific priorities into the talks.

02What is on the agenda?

The Presidencies describe COP30 in Belém as “a shift to implementation” and aim for “balanced and ambitious outcomes” in Antalya. Five themes are expected to shape the talks:

• Adaptation and adaptation finance: Türkiye’s priorities are to implement adaptation targets more effectively, increase adaptation finance and strengthen coordination with the private sector. A key commitment is to at least triple adaptation finance for developing countries by 2035.
• Climate finance delivery: putting the New Collective Quantified Goal agreed at COP29 into practice, with simpler access and more grant-based funding.
• Keeping 1.5°C within reach: outcomes that accelerate the Paris Agreement, alongside the Global Implementation Accelerator and the Belém Mission to 1.5.
• The second Global Stocktake: COP31 launches the next five-year review of collective progress.
• The Action Agenda: ten priority themes, from clean energy and electrification to resilient cities, food security, ocean protection and cutting methane and waste.

03What it means for Türkiye and its exporters

COP31 arrives as Türkiye’s own climate framework takes shape. For companies, three developments now meet:

1. The Climate Law and Emissions Trading System. Climate Law No. 7552 entered into force on 9 July 2025 and created a national ETS. The pilot phase runs in 2026–2027, with full implementation planned from 2028, and covered installations must submit independently verified emissions reports. See our guide to the Türkiye ETS Regulation.
2. New national targets. Türkiye’s second NDC aims to cut emissions by 466 MtCO₂e against business-as-usual by 2035, on the path to net zero by 2053.
3. The EU CBAM. Since 1 January 2026, CBAM has been in its definitive phase, and the first annual declaration for 2026 imports is due by 30 September 2027. See our CBAM 2026 guide for Turkish exporters.

04Why credible data now decides the outcome

An “Implementation COP” has a simple consequence for business: claims must be backed by evidence. Across the frameworks companies now face, the same requirements keep returning:

• Accurate measurement: greenhouse gas inventories covering Scope 1, 2 and, increasingly, Scope 3, built on the GHG Protocol and ISO 14064.
• Transparent reporting: disclosures aligned with GRI, ESRS, IFRS S2 and TSRS, which investors, lenders and buyers use to compare companies.
• Verification readiness: data, controls and evidence that will stand up to independent verification under the Turkish ETS and CBAM.
• Supply chain visibility: large buyers are passing their targets down to suppliers, asking for data, assessments and improvement plans.

Companies that start early turn this from a compliance burden into an advantage: lower CBAM costs through actual rather than default values, better access to green finance and a stronger position with international customers.

05What should you do now?

ESG360 supports organisations along one clear path: understand what applies, assess where you stand, plan, implement, measure, report, prepare for verification and keep improving.