This year’s United Nations climate change conference, or COP31, marks a critical juncture in the global effort to translate diplomatic pledges into tangible climate action.

The following areas have been flagged as urgent priorities:

• The Clean Energy Transition & Electrification – Transitioning away from fossil fuels, scaling up renewable energy resources, and building resilient energy grids. One target is to raise the share of global energy demand met by electricity from roughly 20% to 35% by 2035.
• Climate Finance: Kurum has highlighted a massive global adaptation finance gap of $5.6-7.1 trillion. This is the total cumulative cost developing countries need to implement their NDCs by 2030. Nearly four years after the initial agreement of the Loss & Damage Fund at COP17, the fund has failed to materialise for frontline communities.
• Climate-Resilient Cities – Minimising cities’ exposure to climate risks such as heatwaves through resilient infrastructure, sustainable housing, and low-carbon urban systems. One target is to slash energy intensity in the global building sector by at least 25% by 2035.
• Oceans & Seas – Strengthening marine and coastal resilience. COP31 will work toward an official Antalya Ocean Declaration to advance ocean-based climate solutions, support adaptation for climate-vulnerable coastal and island states, and address how oceans absorb massive amounts of human-generated carbon dioxide and excess heat.
• Food Security – Create dedicated roadmaps and collaborations linking sustainable agricultural systems, water availability, and rural livelihoods. Provide climate-resilient agricultural practice training to all young farmers globally by 2035.
• Zero Waste & Methane Reduction – Relieving pressure on natural resources, ecosystems, and the climate by cutting waste and reducing dependence on linear production and consumption models. One target is to reduce the increase in waste generation by 50% by 2035.
• Green Industrialisation – Boost the use of circular materials in manufacturing and production to at least 15% by 2035.
• Cross-Convention Cooperation – This is the year of the triple COP, which brings together the three UN Rio Conventions for their Conferences of the Parties to tackle the interconnected crises in climate (UNFCCC COP31), biodiversity (CBD COP17), and land (UNCCD COP17). The plan is to integrate circular economies, sustainable agriculture, food security, biodiversity, and green industrial transformations into international policy.