More than 100 national leaders and United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres gathered in Antalya on 11 November 2026 for the first day of the COP31 Leaders’ Summit, putting electrification, green industry and waste at the centre of the climate agenda.
Host President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan opened the summit with a call to action, then chaired leader-level events on electrification and green industrialisation, while First Lady Emine Erdoğan led a leader-level event on zero waste. The COP31 Presidency also launched a Circularity Knowledge Sharing Network and hosted a high-level dialogue on methane from the waste sector.
Key facts
- More than 100 national leaders attended the first day of the COP31 Leaders’ Summit in Antalya on 11 November 2026.
- Industry accounts for around a quarter of direct global CO2 emissions.
- Leaders backed cutting the projected growth in global municipal solid waste generation by at least 50 per cent by 2035.
- The global circular material use rate is to rise to at least 15 per cent.
- The waste sector accounts for around 20 per cent of human-caused methane emissions.
Electrification takes centre stage
Addressing world leaders, President Erdoğan said respect for nature lies at the heart of Türkiye’s civilisation, adding: “Earth is a sacred trust that must be protected and cared for… This culture, which considers bread as fertility, water as holy, and a tree as life, serves as our compass in our environmental and climate policies.”
Following his address, President Erdoğan hosted a leader-level event on electrification, attended by Secretary-General Guterres. The event aimed to build political momentum on electrification and discuss the opportunities and barriers to progress. Türkiye led by example by publishing its own National Energy Plan earlier in November.
President Erdoğan said Türkiye is guided by a green transition across all sectors of its economy. “We are increasing our renewable energy investments, boosting energy efficiency, and promoting clean transport solutions,” he said. Türkiye and China signed a renewable energy deal worth around $15 billion on the COP31 sidelines, covering new solar and wind capacity, storage and transmission.
Green Industrialisation Compact
The COP31 Presidency also hosted a leader-level event on advancing green industrialisation, building political support for the Antalya Green Industrialization Compact. With industry accounting for around a quarter of direct global CO2 emissions, the Compact aims to accelerate investment in and create markets for near-zero and low-emissions industrial production.
The Compact supports the COP31 Presidency’s targets on electrification and circularity, with the electrification of industrial processes and the increasing use of circular materials acting as key mechanisms for decarbonising industry.
COP31 President Murat Kurum said there is much common ground between climate action and the national interest. “Using energy more efficiently makes energy supplies more secure. Investing in water strengthens food security. Clean technologies create opportunities for industry and employment. Resilient cities strengthen our economies,” he said.
Waste and methane in focus
At the summit, First Lady Emine Erdoğan spoke at a leader-level event on zero waste, designed to strengthen political support for reducing the projected growth in global municipal solid waste generation by at least 50 per cent by 2035 and raising the global circular material use rate to at least 15 per cent.
The waste sector accounts for around 20 per cent of human-caused methane emissions, a greenhouse gas 80 times more potent than carbon dioxide in terms of atmospheric warming, according to the COP31 Presidency.
Alongside the zero-waste event, the COP31 Presidency hosted a Global High-Level Dialogue on Methane Emissions from the Waste Sector to help identify policies and projects that can drive forward methane reduction. In the morning, the Presidency also launched the Circularity Knowledge Sharing Network, which will accelerate the integration of circular economy approaches into climate policy and help successful solutions get adopted and scaled. At both events, the Presidency issued a voluntary call urging attendees to reaffirm their commitment and take practical action.
Zero waste is a thematic priority for the COP31 Presidency, and on the opening day of the summit the COP31 High-Level Champion launched the #OneBillion Challenge, which aims to mobilise people and organisations to reduce food waste.
What happens next
On the summit’s second day, leaders turned to resilient cities and energy-efficient buildings. Cities and homes moved to the centre of climate action at COP31, with the Antalya Compact for Energy Efficient Buildings and new finance for vulnerable nations on the agenda. Technical talks closed in gridlock at the COP31 midpoint, with ministers taking over the negotiations for week two, which runs until the summit closes on 20 November.
