COP31 Opens in Antalya as 2027 Could Be Hottest Year on Record

The COP31 climate summit has opened in Antalya, Turkey, with the World Meteorological Organization warning that 2027 could become the hottest year ever recorded due to an unprecedented El Niño amplifying human-caused global warming. The summit, co-hosted by Turkey and Australia, brings together tens of thousands of delegates amid calls from UN Secretary-General António Guterres to accelerate emission cuts and the transition away from fossil fuels. The past four years were the four warmest on record, and current policies project 2.8 degrees Celsius warming by century's end. The 1.5-degree Celsius target is expected to be temporarily exceeded, though negotiators aim to keep the overshoot brief. Climate groups demand faster coal, oil, and gas phase-outs, while trust between rich and poor nations is strained over funding shortfalls, including the US withdrawal from the Paris Agreement.