Sweden: Türkiye's action agenda at COP31 offers hope amid the weakness of the UN negotiation process

Criticism of the negotiation process and support for Türkiye's agenda

UN climate talks are not delivering the solutions the world needs, but the Turkish presidency's focus on practical action at the COP31 summit in Antalya opens a hopeful path to progress. This is how the course of the summit was assessed in an interview with the Anadolu Agency by Sweden's chief climate negotiator, Climate Ambassador Mattias Frumerie. 'We are not getting from the COP process the solutions we want and need,' he said.

What Sweden proposes

At the same time, Frumerie spoke positively of the COP31 Turkish presidency's 'action agenda' — initiatives on electrification and zero waste. According to him, they create platforms where countries, businesses and other stakeholders can cooperate and showcase measures to accelerate the implementation of climate commitments beyond the formal negotiations. 'We want to see a more effective process that works better in terms of implementation,' he stressed, noting the need for cooperation both on reducing emissions and on strengthening resilience and adaptation.

Stockholm's official position

The ambassador's statements align with Sweden's official position at COP31, which Anadolu also outlines. Stockholm warns that the growing agenda of the UN climate process has become difficult to manage, especially for smaller delegations, undermining transparency and inclusiveness. Sweden calls for focusing on the key processes of the Paris Agreement: national climate and adaptation plans, reporting on implementation, and the global stocktake assessing collective progress toward the agreement's goals. Frumerie named accelerating the implementation of nationally determined contributions — the national climate plans that underpin the Paris Agreement — as the main priority: 'We know that ambition needs to be increased, but we also know that the solutions already exist.' He pointed to the companies at the Swedish pavilion presenting technologies to accelerate other countries' transition.

Context of previous decisions and financial goals

The focus on implementation builds on earlier agreements: at COP28 in Dubai in 2023, countries agreed to pursue transitioning away from fossil fuels in energy systems and tripling global renewable energy capacity by 2030. Sweden also supports using the roadmaps on moving away from fossil fuels and halting deforestation, developed under the COP30 presidency, as platforms for exchanging solutions. Frumerie named two main challenges for negotiators: the pace of change and mobilizing finance. According to the agency, at COP29 in Baku in 2024, countries agreed to mobilize at least $300 billion annually for developing countries by 2035, with developed countries taking the lead, and also called on all stakeholders to scale up financing from public and private sources to at least $1.3 trillion per year by the same deadline.

Cooperation with Türkiye and the AI question

Frumerie expressed interest in continuing cooperation with Türkiye on the energy transition and industrial decarbonization after the summit: 'From the Swedish point of view, we are very proud of the strong bilateral relations with Türkiye,' adding that cooperation could extend to the EU and partners around the world. Touching on the expansion of artificial intelligence and data centers, he called for efficient use of energy and water and for harnessing AI's potential to accelerate climate action — bringing together data and developing solutions across sectors to move toward zero emissions. According to International Energy Agency figures cited by the agency, electricity consumption by data centers will roughly double between 2025 and 2030, reaching about 3% of global electricity demand; the IEA's 2026 estimate puts this growth at 485–950 terawatt-hours, with consumption by AI-oriented centers tripling over the same period.

Organization of the summit

COP31 is being held in Antalya until November 20: Turkey is hosting the conference, while Australia leads the negotiations. The material is based on an interview with Anadolu; no other independent assessments of the summit's progress are available in accessible sources.