Good morning from Antalya, Turkey. After rumours of an early text, we’re starting to get a clearer picture of when, how – and if – the COP31 cover decision will start to emerge.
At a meeting with heads of delegation yesterday, countries put forward suggestions for what the cover decision should include, ranging from finance and the transition away from fossil fuels through to electrification, 1.5C, overshoot, oceans, mountains, tripling adaptation finance, etc, etc.
COP31 president of negotiations Chris Bowen has said repeatedly it should not be a “lengthy political statement”, but it’s hard to see how to avoid including all these ideas, at least initially.
Russia has publicly challenged the legality of a cover decision, which is not on the official agenda. At the meeting, they were joined by some negotiating groups in opposing the whole idea.
But there is legal precedent from other recent COPs – see this well-informed exchange on LinkedIn between CB contributing editor Dr Joanna Depledge and former French negotiator Paul Watkinson – so I would expect the cover text to proceed.
The presidency is expected to offer a “reflection” of inputs on the cover text ahead of another meeting with heads of delegation on Friday. It’s possible this could take the form of an “elements” text – effectively a long list of ideas – either in public or behind the scenes.
Then, the presidency will invite written submissions by Saturday, before producing a draft text early next week. You can keep an eye out for any public drafts via our text tracker.
For now, here’s the view from the COP venue earlier this morning:
