Topic of the Month - COP31

COP31 in Antalya: from promises to delivery

This is the first installment of the Topic of the Month on COP31

Nov 5, 2026

The 31st UN Climate Change Conference (COP31) opens in Antalya, Türkiye, on 9 November for two weeks of negotiations. The question is no longer whether more ambition is needed, but whether existing promises can be delivered. In this regard, COP31 will launch the second Global Stocktake, the primary mechanism under the Paris Agreement for monitoring and accelerating global climate action, even as national plans still fall short of 1.5°C and the finance debate has shifted from pledges to whether money actually reaches the countries that need it.

For the Florence School of Regulation, carbon markets will therefore be a key issue at COP31. The test will be whether countries can turn ambition into concrete climate action, with clear rules and responsibilities. Article 6 carbon markets illustrate what is at stake: they can help channel finance to the Global South, but only if credits are high-integrity and serve as a complement to direct climate finance, not a substitute for it.

The EUI-FSR Climate delegation, Simone Borghesi and Jacopo Cammeo, will bring these questions to seven events at COP31. The discussion begins on 9 November, when Borghesi will join ERCST and KOBiZE at the Ukraine Pavilion for a debate on the future governance of the EU carbon market.

On 10 November, EUI-FSR will host the official UNFCCC side event ‘International Carbon Credits and Climate Finance: Substitute or Complement?’ Borghesi will open and moderate the discussion, bringing together experts from Tsinghua University, IETA, ICAP and Öko-Institut, with Jos Delbeke (EUI-STG) delivering the concluding remarks.

On 17 November, the focus will shift from international rules to implementation. At the Italy Pavilion, Jacopo Cammeo will co-organise with Carbonsink the session ‘Carbon Pricing and Article 6: From Evidence to Impact on the Ground’, opened by Borghesi with a review of the evidence on carbon pricing.

Prof. Borghesi will also speak on transferable climate solutions at the Italy Pavilion (9 November) and on a just Mediterranean energy transition with the Anna Lindh Foundation (14 November). He will discuss marine ecosystem accounts beyond GDP at the Portugal Pavilion (18 November). Finally, the EUI-FSR Climate delegation will join the UNFCCC side event on financing urban regeneration for climate neutrality and resilience, with Bocconi-IEFE, EAERE and UCLG (19 November).

Updates on the key takeaways from these events will follow in the upcoming installments of this Topic of the Month.

Participation in all of these events at COP31 will also serve as an opportunity to disseminate information about the ongoing LIFE NETS project, co-funded by the European Commission.