Quiet COP31: Why no one is talking about it

If you turn on the news or scroll through social media today, you might notice a relative silence surrounding the upcoming COP31 climate summit in Antalya, Türkiye, co-hosted with Australia leading the negotiations from November 9 to 20 2026. Years ago, these conferences were high-stakes political spectacles. From the monumental breakthrough of the Paris Agreement at COP21 to the urgent rallies of Glasgow’s COP26, these annual gatherings were treated as pivotal turning points for humanity.

Yet, COP31 feels markedly different. Media attention has faded into a quiet dialogue, leaving many wondering: what happened to the urgency? Is the climate movement dying, or has it simply evolved? This shift partly stems from the United States withdrawing from the Paris Agreement and starting the process of leaving the UNFCCC altogether. While the US is alone in this step, its massive carbon footprint makes the move deeply impactful.

Another reason COP31 lacks the spotlight is a fundamental shift in purpose. For decades, COPs were designed to forge global consensus and establish grand targets. They were treaty-building events where world leaders gathered to sign historic pacts, pledge target years for net-zero emissions and make bold promises. Now, that legal architecture is largely finished. With the Paris rulebook mostly finalised, the UN process has moved from negotiation to implementation. Drafting target numbers generates headlines; tracking whether a country has actually built enough solar farms or cut industrial emissions does not. COP31 and its future editions have a significant role to play, with operational working sessions focused on domestic policy, climate finance and trade mechanisms.

Public interest has also been dulled by “pledge fatigue”. After watching decades of agreements fail to bend the global emissions curve fast enough, the public and media have grown sceptical of high-level diplomatic engagements. This cynicism is compounded by a fragmented geopolitical landscape. The original momentum of the COP movement relied on multilateral cohesion, a belief that global superpowers could set aside differences to tackle a shared existential threat. Trade wars, energy security concerns and regional conflicts have pushed long-term climate targets down government priority lists.

However, the climate movement isn’t dying; it’s shifting shape. The traditional “diplomatic circus” model may be reaching its limits, but climate action has migrated away from a single yearly UN venue. Clean energy transitions are increasingly driven by economics, market forces and local policies rather than UN decrees.

National legislation, local grid transformations and climate laws are yielding faster, more enforceable results than international consensus.

Smaller, targeted alliances are tackling specific issues, such as forest protection and green shipping corridors, outside the formal UNFCCC process. The ongoing conflict in West Asia, along with the now four-year-old Russia-Ukraine conflict, has disrupted international oil and gas supplies, spiked energy prices and crowded out broader global attention. These conflicts will directly shape the political and economic agenda of COP31. Fossilflation, along with the severe vulnerabilities of fossil fuel reliance, is giving fresh momentum to transition talks, such as the co-hosts’ proposed global electrification targets of “35-by-35” and cleaner energy adoption.

The main threat facing COP31 is not its lack of headline value, but how a lack of public visibility weakens accountability. The policymaking process is significantly shaped by public sentiment, particularly when channelled through civic engagement. Consequently, robust public demand raises the likelihood of governments prioritising climate change initiatives.

Without intense public scrutiny, governments face less pressure to deliver the trillions needed for global adaptation and clean energy transitions. Let us hope the dialogues truly pave the way for global action, as the event’s motto suggests.

Conclusion

COP31 must therefore be judged not by the headlines it generates or the declarations its delegates sign, but by the action it delivers. The shift from negotiation to implementation should make these summits more accountable, not less visible. Governments must translate climate pledges into measurable progress on emissions, adaptation and climate finance, while ensuring that developing nations receive the resources needed to make the transition. The climate crisis has not lost its urgency simply because public attention has waned. If anything, the fading spotlight makes sustained public scrutiny and political accountability more important than ever.

The writer is a Senior Consultant at the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC); Views presented are personal.