COP31 Week Two in Antalya: Science, Nature and the Final Push — the Events to Watch

Antalya, Türkiye — The first week of COP31 is over. The leaders have spoken, the finance debate has begun and the education day now under way closes the opening half of the conference. From tomorrow, the focus shifts: a quieter Sunday, then science, nature and people take the stage — and by Friday, the negotiations must produce their answers.

COP31, the 31st UN climate conference, runs from 9 to 20 November at the Antalya Expo Center. Its second week, from Sunday 15 November to Friday 20 November, carries the decisions the first week only prepared: the High-Level Segment begins on Tuesday, the Global Climate Action event lands on Thursday, and the closing plenaries are scheduled for Friday.

This guide brings together the main events of the second week — the official thematic days, the parliamentary meeting, the youth and women’s events and the side events that will shape the final days — from the COP31 Presidency programme, the UNFCCC, the Inter-Parliamentary Union and the organisers themselves.

Key facts

• 15 November: “A Breath in Antalya” — a day of social and cultural programmes; no formal thematic day.
• 16 November: Science, Industry and Technology — including the IPU Parliamentary Meeting in Belek and the COP31 Presidency’s education event.
• 17 November: Ocean, Seas, Nature and Land Use — Rio Synergy, also Nature Day; the High-Level Segment begins.
• 18 November: Human, Social Development and Gender.
• 19 November: İmece: Enhancing Implementation — including the Global Climate Action High-Level Event.
• 20 November: Final Negotiations — closing plenaries of COP, CMP and CMA.

Today: the $1.3 trillion question returns

Before the second week begins, Saturday still has business to finish. At 14:00–15:00, the COP30 Presidency holds a follow-up session on implementing the Baku to Belém Roadmap to $1.3 trillion — the plan to raise climate finance for developing countries to $1.3 trillion a year by 2035 — in the Global Mutirão Room at the Brazil Pavilion. The roadmap’s report was presented on Friday; today’s session turns to how it will be put into practice.

At 16:00–18:00, the National Adaptation Plan Implementation Alliance meets in GCAA Room 2 – Likya to review progress and next steps. And the deadline the COP31 Presidency set for written inputs on its draft decision falls today: Chris Bowen, President of Negotiations, told delegates on the opening day that a high-level summary would come by Friday, 13 November, with written inputs invited until Saturday, 14 November.

Also under way today is the launch of UNEP’s Critical Middle Coalition on food systems, reported in Watan News’s zero-waste coverage from COP31.

Sunday 15 November: a breath in Antalya

Sunday is the conference’s pause. The Presidency’s programme lists no formal thematic day for 15 November: instead, “A Breath in Antalya” offers social and cultural programmes for delegates. The World Climate Foundation’s 17th World Climate Summit is also scheduled for Sunday, according to COP31 business reporting — a gathering of business and finance leaders alongside the talks.

Monday 16 November: science, industry and technology

The formal programme resumes with Science, Industry and Technology day. Parliamentarians arrive in force: the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) holds its Parliamentary Meeting at COP31 from 09:00 to 17:00 at the Ethno Belek Hotel in Belek, jointly with the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye — a day of legislators discussing how parliaments turn climate pledges into law.

Education carries over from Saturday: the COP31 Presidency holds its Action for Climate Empowerment (ACE) event, “Education, Public Awareness and Children and Youth: Turning Climate Science into Climate Action”, from 11:30 to 13:00 in the UNFCCC ACE Plenary. At the same time, the Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network (WECAN) hosts “Women Leading Climate Solutions on the Frontlines of the Climate Crisis” in Side Event Room 9 – Safranbolu (11:30–13:00), and in the evening holds a press conference on women leading a fossil fuel phaseout and just transition (17:30–18:00, Press Conference Room 2, Yunus Emre).

Elsewhere on Monday, the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) hosts a session on climate change and human mobility — disaster displacement and planned relocation — at the Nepal Pavilion (10:00–11:00), and the UNEP Copenhagen Climate Centre presents technology needs assessments, including Kazakhstan’s, and an evening session on what negotiations can learn from loss and damage research (18:30, Side Event Room Brown).

Tuesday 17 November: nature day — and the ministers arrive

Tuesday is Ocean, Seas, Nature and Land Use day — the Rio Synergy day that brings the climate, biodiversity and desertification conventions together — and COP31’s Nature Day. It is also the day the High-Level Segment begins: ministers and heads of delegation start delivering national statements, with ministerial roundtables on the impacts of mitigation measures and on pre-2030 pledges.

Mountains get their moment at 11:00 with the launch of the Mountain Coalition at the UNIDO Pavilion — “Mountains for Climate-Resilient Mountain Development” — followed at 13:00–14:30 by the Santiago Network’s session on the year of scaled delivery for loss and damage, in Side Event Room SPE 6. The UNEP Copenhagen Climate Centre launches its 2026 Climate Technology Progress Report on ocean-based technologies at the Ocean Pavilion (10:15).

In the evening, the Brazil Pavilion hosts the Youth Mutirão on COP30 legacies for children and young people (17:45–18:45), while WECAN holds a press conference on rights of nature as a systemic solution to the climate crisis (17:30–18:00).

Wednesday 18 November: people at the centre

Wednesday’s theme is Human, Social Development and Gender, with a high-level event and dialogue under Gender Day. WECAN runs three events: frontline women’s health in the climate crisis at the WHO Pavilion (10:30–11:30), a press conference on women protecting and restoring forests (14:00–14:30), and an evening session at the People’s Climate Summit in Antalya on women building a resilient world through a just transition and fossil fuel phaseout (16:00–17:30, Mimar Sinan Kültür Merkezi, Earth Hall).

ICIMOD, with UNEP and partners, hosts a session on localising climate action and peace-positive, nature-based adaptation in fragile contexts (11:30–13:00, Side Event Room Orange).

Thursday 19 November: implementation day

Thursday’s theme is İmece — a Turkish word for collective action — and enhancing implementation. The day’s centrepiece is the Global Climate Action High-Level Event, a mandated UNFCCC event showcasing what cities, businesses, investors and civil society are doing to carry out climate commitments. The first part of the closing plenary sessions of COP, CMP and CMA is also listed for Thursday, to be confirmed.

Two technical highlights: the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) presents “From the sky to the stocktake” — using atmospheric observations to improve greenhouse gas emission estimates — at the EU Pavilion (14:30–16:00), and legislators gather for “Parliaments Breaking Silos and Building Partnerships to Accelerate Methane Action” (18:30–20:00, Orange Room of the IPU).

Friday 20 November: final negotiations

Friday is Final Negotiations day. The closing plenary sessions of the COP, the Kyoto Protocol meeting (CMP) and the Paris Agreement meeting (CMA) are scheduled, and the Green Zone hosts a “Connect to Funds” event. By then, the conference must have answers on the questions the first week left open — above all the cover decision, the finance package and the fossil-fuel transition roadmap.

What the second week must decide

The events are the visible half of the week; the negotiations are the other. According to Climate Change News’s COP31 bulletin, a cover-decision wishlist has been issued as China bowed out of hosting COP33 — the debate over whether COP31 adopts a cover decision at all is now live. The $1.3 trillion finance roadmap, the just-transition mechanism agreed at COP30 in Belém and now being designed in Antalya, and the fossil-fuel transition roadmap all need decisions by Friday, as does the work on the second Global Stocktake. The full twelve-day programme is set out in Watan News’s COP31 events calendar, and the first week’s finance outcomes are covered in our first-week finance report.

Frequently asked questions

When does COP31’s second week start?

The second week runs from Sunday 15 November to Friday 20 November 2026. Sunday is “A Breath in Antalya”, a day of social and cultural programmes with no formal thematic day; the formal programme resumes on Monday 16 November with Science, Industry and Technology.

What is the High-Level Segment?

The High-Level Segment is the part of the conference where ministers, heads of state and government and senior representatives deliver national statements and hold high-level dialogues. At COP31 it begins on Tuesday 17 November, with ministerial roundtables on the impacts of mitigation measures and on pre-2030 pledges.

What is Nature Day at COP31?

Nature Day falls on Tuesday 17 November, the Ocean, Seas, Nature and Land Use day — also called Rio Synergy, because it brings together the Rio conventions on climate, biodiversity and desertification. Events include the Mountain Coalition launch, the Santiago Network session on loss and damage, and the Youth Mutirão at the Brazil Pavilion.

What is the Global Climate Action High-Level Event?

It is a mandated UNFCCC event held on Thursday 19 November, showcasing climate action by cities, regions, businesses, investors and civil society — the non-state actors whose work carries out the commitments governments make in the negotiations.

When does COP31 end?

COP31 is scheduled to close on Friday 20 November 2026, Final Negotiations day, with the closing plenary sessions of the COP, the Kyoto Protocol meeting and the Paris Agreement meeting. Conferences often run past their scheduled close if decisions are still outstanding.