Climate Ambassadors Take Centre Stage as COP31 Leaders’ Summit Continues in Antalya

Antalya: Climate ambassadors have moved to the centre of COP31 as the high-level leaders’ segment continues in Antalya, with South Korea sending its ambassador for global climate and environment as a special presidential envoy and small island states putting their own climate ambassador at the front of their delegation.

The week is showing how much of a climate summit now runs through ambassadors: the envoys who carry their governments’ positions into the negotiating rooms, speak for the countries most exposed to climate change, and keep the talks moving between the formal sessions.

Key facts

• South Korea’s Ambassador for Global Climate and Environment, Kang Kum-sil, is attending COP31 in Antalya as a special presidential envoy, joining the summit on Wednesday and Thursday, 11–12 November.
• Leaders from some 80 countries are expected to take part in the leaders’ segment, according to South Korea’s foreign ministry.
• Antigua and Barbuda’s Climate Ambassador, Ruleta Camacho Thomas, is already in Antalya leading her country’s technical delegation at the talks.
• Sweden’s Climate Ambassador, Mattias Frumerie, and France’s Climate Ambassador, Benoît Faraco, are both working the summit — Frumerie as Sweden’s chief negotiator and Faraco at the French Pavilion.
• New Zealand’s Ambassador for Climate Change, Stuart Coleman, joined the launch of the Moana Blue Pacific Pavilion in Antalya on 10 November.

Seoul sends its climate ambassador as presidential envoy

South Korea’s foreign ministry said on Monday that Ambassador Kang Kum-sil will attend the summit in Antalya as a special presidential envoy, the Yonhap news agency reported. Kang plans to highlight Seoul’s commitment to strengthening its contribution to global efforts against climate change and to explain the country’s electrification and decarbonisation strategies.

Kang, a former justice minister, was appointed to the ambassador post in January 2026. Her attendance as a presidential envoy underlines how South Korea is treating the Antalya summit: not only as a negotiation to follow, but as a stage to present its own energy transition plans to world leaders.

The leaders’ segment is the part of COP31 where heads of state and government, and the envoys they send in their place, set the political direction for the two weeks of negotiations that follow. With leaders from some 80 countries expected, according to the South Korean ministry, the ambassadors in the room carry real weight.

Small island states put their ambassador at the front

For the countries most exposed to rising seas, the ambassador is often the delegation itself. Antigua and Barbuda’s Prime Minister Gaston Browne arrived in Antalya for the high-level leaders’ segment and was greeted on arrival by his country’s Climate Ambassador, Ruleta Camacho Thomas, who is already in Antalya leading the technical delegation at COP31.

Camacho Thomas is also the acting director of Antigua and Barbuda’s Department of Environment. While the technical delegation continues its work in the negotiations, Prime Minister Browne is pressing fellow leaders for climate finance that is affordable, accessible and effective for climate-vulnerable countries such as Antigua and Barbuda.

A central concern for the small island states is the anticipated overshoot of the 1.5°C global temperature limit. For them, limiting the scale and duration of that overshoot is essential, as rising sea levels, more severe weather and other climate impacts threaten communities, infrastructure and livelihoods. Browne’s programme in Antalya also includes high-level discussions on South–South cooperation with China, focused on technology transfer, renewable energy, climate innovation and capacity building.

Europe’s climate ambassadors work the pavilions

Sweden’s Climate Ambassador Mattias Frumerie, who is also Sweden’s chief negotiator, was part of his government’s preparations before the summit opened: he attended a lunch hosted by Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson and Minister for Climate and the Environment Romina Pourmokhtari on 4 November, and held a press briefing with the minister on 5 November ahead of the conference, according to the Swedish government.

France’s Climate Ambassador Benoît Faraco is working from the French Pavilion in Antalya, taking part in sessions on climate, biodiversity and health, and on negotiations, carbon-free energy and climate risk prevention, according to the pavilion’s programme.

New Zealand’s Ambassador for Climate Change, Stuart Coleman, joined the launch of the Moana Blue Pacific Pavilion in Antalya on 10 November. The pavilion, opened by Fiji’s Minister for Information, Environment and Climate Change, Lynda Tabuya, alongside Australia’s Minister for Climate Change and Energy, Chris Bowen, gives Pacific negotiators, youth, women and Indigenous leaders a shared home for the two weeks of the conference.

Why ambassadors matter at a COP

Climate ambassadors are the bridge between a government’s climate policy at home and its negotiating position at the summit. They carry the mandate, hold the relationships with other delegations, and keep channels open when formal talks stall. For small countries, a single ambassador can be the whole delegation’s public voice; for large ones, the ambassador is the person who turns a leader’s speech into a negotiating position.

The role is also growing beyond governments. Citizen ambassador networks — including the European Climate Pact Ambassadors, who are bringing the rights of nature cause to COP31 this week — and youth ambassador programmes show how the title now reaches from ministries to communities. Watan News International’s own Global Climate Change Torch runs an Ambassador Programme among its eight programmes, connecting young climate ambassadors with the climate talks.

Watan News earlier reported on the opening of the COP31 leaders’ summit in Antalya, where world leaders began two days of climate statements: COP31 Leaders’ Summit Opens in Antalya as World Leaders Begin Two Days of Climate Statements.

What to watch next

The test for the ambassadors in Antalya this week is whether their presence turns into progress in the negotiating rooms. The leaders’ segment sets the tone, but the detailed work — on finance for the most vulnerable countries, on the next steps for the energy transition, and on keeping the 1.5°C goal within reach — happens in the days that follow. The envoys who arrived as presidential representatives and delegation leaders will be judged on what they carry home.

Frequently asked questions

What is a climate ambassador?

A climate ambassador is a senior envoy appointed by a government to represent it on climate change — in international negotiations, in dealings with other countries and in public advocacy. Some are career diplomats; others, like South Korea’s Kang Kum-sil, are former ministers appointed to the role.

Why is South Korea’s ambassador attending COP31 as a presidential envoy?

South Korea’s foreign ministry said Ambassador Kang Kum-sil will attend as a special presidential envoy, which means she carries the president’s mandate to the summit. She plans to highlight Seoul’s climate commitment and explain its electrification and decarbonisation strategies to leaders from some 80 countries.

Who is leading Antigua and Barbuda’s delegation at COP31?

The country’s Climate Ambassador, Ruleta Camacho Thomas, who is also acting director of the Department of Environment, is already in Antalya leading the technical delegation. Prime Minister Gaston Browne arrived for the high-level leaders’ segment to press for accessible climate finance for small island states.

Which European climate ambassadors are at COP31?

Sweden’s Climate Ambassador Mattias Frumerie, who is also Sweden’s chief negotiator, and France’s Climate Ambassador Benoît Faraco, who is taking part in sessions at the French Pavilion. New Zealand’s Ambassador for Climate Change, Stuart Coleman, joined the launch of the Moana Blue Pacific Pavilion.

What are the ambassadors pushing for in Antalya?

Their priorities differ by country: South Korea is presenting its energy transition plans; the small island states want affordable, accessible climate finance and action to limit the overshoot of 1.5°C; European ambassadors are working on negotiations, carbon-free energy and climate risk prevention.

The ambassadors’ week in Antalya is a reminder that climate diplomacy is carried by people as much as by documents — and that the envoys in the room often decide how far a summit can go.