The 31st Conference of the United Nations on Climate Change (COP31) takes place in Antalya, Turkey, from 9 to 20 November, at a time when two wars divert attention from climate chaos.
With the war in Ukraine, since 2022, and the Iran–Israel–United States conflict since the beginning of this year, the spotlights are focused on the rising cost of living and fossil fuels, passing almost unnoticed a recent UN report warning that the world has already surpassed the 1.5°C warming limit above pre-industrial levels, a value defined in 2015 in the Paris Agreement, regarded as historic, as the threshold to avoid catastrophic and irreversible climate changes.
It is in this “climate” that the UN conference takes place, co-chaired by Turkey and Australia, centred on the evolution of the energy transition and on financing decarbonisation, in an effort to revive the objectives defined in the Paris Agreement.
Here is a glossary of terms and concepts that frame and will be discussed at COP31:
Paris Agreement – International treaty adopted in 2015 at COP21 by almost all countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere and prevent global temperatures from rising above two degrees Celsius (2°C) above pre-industrial levels, and preferably not exceed 1.5°C.
Climate Change – Changes in the Earth’s natural climate cycles attributed to human activity, especially the large quantities of carbon dioxide (CO2) released into the atmosphere through intensive use of fossil fuels. Climate change manifests in phenomena such as polar ice melt, desertification, species extinction, destruction of ecosystems, wildfires, sea level rise, droughts and extreme floods.
Global warming – Increase in the planet’s surface temperature due to human activity in the last roughly 100 years, particularly the burning of fossil fuels. The past decade was the hottest on record and, according to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), since 1980 every decade has been warmer than the previous one.
The year 2024 was the hottest ever recorded. The UN acknowledges that temperatures could rise by up to three degrees by 2100.
Ozone layer – Ozone coverage in the atmosphere that protects the planet from ultraviolet radiation from the Sun. Without the protection of the ozone layer there would be no life on Earth. Gases produced by human activity, such as those once commonly used in refrigeration systems, damage the ozone layer.
Fossil fuels – Fuels with high carbon content, such as oil, natural gas or coal.
Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change – High-level conferences on environmental protection.
Nationally Determined Contributions – NDCs, in the original acronym. The contributions that each country proposes to make to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and keep the temperature rise below 2°C. They arise from the Paris Agreement.
Sustainable development – Or sustainability. Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to do the same. It is characterised by the preservation of nature and the environment.
Net-zero emissions, or carbon neutrality – When the same amount of greenhouse gases is removed from the atmosphere as is emitted by human activities. This is achieved by reducing or eliminating major emission sources and investing in forests, which absorb carbon as they grow.
Pre-industrial era – The period preceding the industrial revolution, which began in England. It is commonly taken to be the period before the second half of the eighteenth century (circa 1750).
Extreme Weather Phenomena – Abnormal and increasingly frequent situations due to human influence on climate, such as record temperatures (heat waves and cold spells), rainfall of unprecedented intensity, severe and persistent droughts, exceptionally violent winds and high-intensity hurricanes, or coastal floods. The IPCC and the UN warn that extreme weather phenomena will increase in frequency and intensity.
Greenhouse Gases – Gases that absorb infrared radiation emitted by the planet and prevent it from dissipating into space, warming the Earth by producing a greenhouse effect. The production of these gases is natural, but has been exponentially increased by human activity, with the burning of fossil fuels being the most dangerous. The main gas is CO2. Methane, whose concentration has risen in the atmosphere in the last decade, warms the Earth 80 times faster than CO2.
Carbon Market – Or international emissions trading. Has its origin in the Kyoto Protocol. It establishes targets for each country to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but these can be traded with other countries less emitting, or those that have carbon credits per tonne that they did not produce (and that they could have produced).
Mitigation and Adaptation to Climate Change – Actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Limiting and mitigating climate changes requires reducing global emissions by 50% by 2050, compared to 1990 levels. At the same time, governments are also preparing for these changes, adapting to reduce the consequences.
Sustainable Development Goals – A set of 17 goals established by the United Nations General Assembly for a more sustainable world by 2030. This is the so-called Agenda 2030.
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change – IPCC. An organisation that brings together hundreds of scientists from around the world, created in 1988 under the auspices of the UN, and that disseminates scientific information about climate change so that countries can make political decisions.
Carbon footprint – A measure indicating the CO2 emissions caused by the actions of individuals, businesses, organizations, or states. The Paris Agreement aims to limit the carbon footprint of countries.
Loss and damages – A concept that designates the harms generated by the impacts of climate change. It was introduced by the Alliance of Small Island States in international climate negotiations in Geneva, in 1991. The notion of losses and damages to be compensated remained largely ignored until it was revived in 2013 at COP19 in Warsaw, where the Warsaw International Mechanism for Loss and Damage was created, which has so far yielded few practical results.
Kyoto Protocol – The first international legal treaty to limit greenhouse gas emissions. Adopted in Kyoto, Japan, in 1997, and which entered into force in 2005.
Carbon sinks – Natural removal of carbon from the atmosphere, for example by trees and all plants, through photosynthesis. The oceans are also a carbon sink and algae absorb even more than terrestrial plants.
