COP31 Hosts Under Fire: Türkiye and Australia Pursue Coal Expansion Before Antalya Talks, Report Says

ANTALYA, Türkiye — The two countries preparing to lead next month's COP31 climate talks are both pursuing new coal projects, casting doubt on their climate leadership credentials, according to a report by German environmental nonprofit Urgewald published ahead of the summit. Türkiye, which will host the talks in Antalya from 9 to 20 November 2026, and Australia, which will lead the negotiations, are expanding coal even as they ask the world to accelerate the move away from fossil fuels, the group's latest Global Coal Exit List shows.

Illustration: The Mediterranean coastal city of Antalya in Türkiye with a large summit hall, mountains and sea behind, and hazy smoke on the horizon.

What Happened

According to Eco-Business, which reported the findings on 26 October 2026, Urgewald's database — covering more than 2,700 coal industry parent companies and subsidiaries — highlights Türkiye's plans for additional coal-fired power capacity and Australia's pipeline of new mines and extensions. Türkiye ranks 21st globally for coal-fired power capacity planned or under construction, followed by Australia.

Although their expansion plans are smaller than those of the leading developers China, India and Indonesia, they raise questions about the two hosts' credibility in steering the talks, said Heffa Schücking, Urgewald's director. "Instead, both countries seem determined to keep the door open for new coal projects," Schücking told Eco-Business. "Neither Türkiye nor Australia are credible advocates for decisive climate action as long as they don't practice at home what they preach on the world stage."

The report lands just weeks before negotiators gather in Antalya, and it echoes a pattern seen at previous summits: host countries facing scrutiny over their own fossil fuel policies. COP30 host Brazil was criticised for approving exploratory oil drilling off the Amazon coast shortly before its summit, COP29 host Azerbaijan faced a backlash over gas expansion plans, and COP28 host the United Arab Emirates faced criticism over its oil and gas expansion and the appointment of an oil chief as summit president.

Background

The specifics in Türkiye are stark. The country's coal ambitions include a proposed 688-megawatt expansion of the Afşin-Elbistan A lignite-fired power station in Kahramanmaraş, and the environment ministry — led by COP31 President-designate Murat Kurum — is appealing a court ruling that overturned the environmental impact assessment for new units there. A Cengiz Holding subsidiary, Cenal Elektrik, has also proposed a 1,050-megawatt expansion in Çanakkale, drawing community opposition over pollution and dependence on imported coal.

Urgewald's data showed that coal supplied 34 per cent of Türkiye's electricity in 2025, compared with 22 per cent from wind and solar combined, and that the country provides more than €2.4 billion (US$2.6 billion) a year in coal subsidies. That sits uneasily with the presidency's stated COP31 agenda, which puts electrification, renewable energy, efficiency and power sector decarbonisation at the centre — including lifting electricity's share of final energy consumption to 35 per cent by 2035 — but contains no explicit pledge to phase out or phase down fossil fuels. "Electrification without phasing out coal is like showering with polluted water," Schücking said.

Australia's picture is different but equally awkward. The country has the world's third-largest pipeline of thermal coal mining projects, with 49 proposed mines or extensions, including 20 greenfield developments. Among them is the Hunter Valley Operations Continuation Project, which received New South Wales approval on 30 September 2026 and would extend mining until as late as 2045, allowing approximately 429 million tonnes of coal to be extracted; federal approval is still required. Australia also remains among the few OECD countries without a coal phase-out date, even though it backed a fossil fuel transition roadmap at COP30.

Illustration: A large lignite coal-fired power station with cooling towers and drifting smoke beside a Turkish town.

Why It Matters

The report matters because COP31 arrives at a moment of unusual urgency. The UN Environment Programme's Emissions Gap Report 2026, released on 21 October, warned that current policies put the world on course for 2.8°C of warming this century, and the UN has called on countries to make the coming overshoot of 1.5°C as short and small as possible. Against that backdrop, the credibility of the summit's leaders is not a side issue — it shapes whether their calls for faster action are heard or dismissed as hypocrisy.

It also matters because of the scale of what is still planned globally. Urgewald found that China and India remain the main drivers of coal expansion, accounting for 88 per cent of planned coal-fired power capacity and nearly two-thirds of thermal coal mine expansion projects. Globally, 335 companies are planning 606 coal-fired power projects with combined capacity exceeding 740 gigawatts — about four times the size of the existing US coal fleet — and planned mining projects would add at least 3.27 billion tonnes of annual production capacity, equivalent to 41 per cent of current global thermal coal output. The hosts' projects are a small part of that total, but as summit leaders they set the tone.

Finally, the report puts the COP31 presidency's own agenda to the test. Kurum has described the summit as an "implementation COP" focused on turning climate commitments into bankable projects, and Türkiye expects around 85 world leaders to attend. If the hosts cannot show movement on coal at home, negotiators from vulnerable countries — the Pacific island states that used the pre-COP in Fiji and Tuvalu to demand faster action — will have reason to doubt that implementation will reach the fossil fuel question at all.

What Happens Next

All eyes now turn to Antalya, where the summit opens on 9 November. Observers will watch whether the presidency puts a fossil fuel phase-out, or at least a coal phase-down, on the negotiating agenda, and whether Australia uses its role leading the negotiations to set a coal phase-out date of its own. The Hunter Valley project's federal approval decision, still pending, will be another early test of Canberra's intentions.

Urgewald's report will not decide the summit's outcome, but it has framed the question that will follow the hosts through November: can countries that are still expanding coal credibly lead the world away from it? As Schücking put it, "the real proof of Australia's climate leadership is not in its speeches at COP31, but in its actions at home." The same test applies, with equal force, to the host in Antalya.

Illustration: A vast open-cut coal mine in Australia with terraced earth and heavy machinery in a red dust landscape.

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FAQ

What did the Urgewald report find?

Urgewald's Global Coal Exit List found that COP31 hosts Türkiye and Australia are both pursuing new coal projects: Türkiye plans additional coal-fired power capacity, while Australia has a pipeline of 49 proposed coal mines or extensions.

When and where is COP31?

COP31 takes place in Antalya, Türkiye, from 9 to 20 November 2026. Türkiye hosts the summit and Australia leads the negotiations.

Which coal projects are named in Türkiye?

The report names a proposed 688-megawatt expansion of the Afşin-Elbistan A lignite-fired power station in Kahramanmaraş and a proposed 1,050-megawatt expansion in Çanakkale by Cenal Elektrik.

What about Australia's coal pipeline?

Australia has the world's third-largest pipeline of thermal coal mining projects, including the Hunter Valley Operations Continuation Project, approved by New South Wales on 30 September 2026, which would allow about 429 million tonnes of coal to be extracted, subject to federal approval.

Who dominates global coal expansion overall?

China and India remain the main drivers, accounting for 88 per cent of planned coal-fired power capacity and nearly two-thirds of thermal coal mine expansion projects identified by Urgewald.

Sources

• Eco-Business, "COP31 hosts Türkiye and Australia pursue coal expansion ahead of climate talks: Urgewald report," 26 October 2026.
• Urgewald, Global Coal Exit List, as reported by Eco-Business, 26 October 2026.
• UN Environment Programme, Emissions Gap Report 2026: The Point of Return, released 21 October 2026.