The COP31 Pulse
Understanding What’s At Stake At The Conference In Plain English
From Global Negotiations To Local Action
COP31, the UN climate conference, meets in Antalya, Türkiye, from 9 to 20 November 2026. Türkiye hosts the conference and holds the COP31 Presidency, while Australia leads the negotiations. The COP31 Pulse explains, in plain English, what a COP is, what is being negotiated, who holds the power and how to judge the outcome. Every claim is traced to a named source, and every item is labelled to show whether it was agreed by every country, agreed at an earlier COP, or pledged by some countries only.
The COP 31 Pulse works with learners aged 9 to 13, 14 to 18 and adults in the UK, the EU and Türkiye. Unlike other tools out there, the COP 31 Pulse opens in any browser with no sign-up, works on a phone or a classroom screen, and fits a single lesson or a half-term project. It includes eleven classroom activities, among them a full COP31 simulation, and 23 printable lesson sheets, with a simpler activities for younger learners. Each activity ends with something learners can do in their school or community. Everything is mapped to GreenComp, the EU sustainability competence framework, and to the SDG targets. The tool is independent, has no UN affiliation and is updated regularly during and after COP31.
The COP31 Pulse
COP31, the UN climate conference, meets in Antalya, Türkiye, from 9 to 20 November 2026, with Türkiye as host and COP31 President and Australia leading the negotiations. Over half of the education policies and curricula UNESCO studied in 2021 made no mention of climate change. This tool explains COP31 in plain English for learners aged 9 to 13, 14 to 18 and adult learners in the UK, the EU and Türkiye: what a COP is, what is at stake, who is at the table, and how global negotiations become local action.
Regularly Updated. Current to 14 October 2026 and updated during and after COP31. Independent: 169to1 has no UN affiliation.
Set Up For Your Class
Three choices tailor the tool. Your learners' age group changes the summaries, discussion questions and activity adaptations throughout. Your region changes the Where You Live panels, the profiles on The Table and the routes on Local Action. Adult Learners covers teachers preparing a lesson, parents, colleagues and community groups, and matches page 003 of each lesson sheet.
Which Learners Will Take Part?
Where Are You Learning?
What Is Your Role?
Your Learning Journey
Six steps take learners from what a COP is to what they can do about it. Each step opens the right part of the tool.
Why This Tool, And Why Now
A Gap In Teaching
UNESCO's 2021 review found that over half of the education policies and curricula it studied made no mention of climate change, and 36 per cent of its survey respondents reported no environmental content in teacher training. Plain-English, current material on COP31 for young people is hard to find.
UNESCO, Learn For Our Planet, 2021
A Question Of Fairness
COP31's decisions set targets for 2035 and beyond. The people who will live longest with them are today's learners, yet few have been taught what a COP is or how to follow one. Explaining COP31 well is itself a matter of intergenerational fairness.
169to1
Part Of The Agenda
Climate education is on the COP31 agenda: countries began reviewing Action for Climate Empowerment in June 2026 and aim for decisions at COP31. Youth And Education is one of the ten COP31 Action Agenda themes.
UNFCCC, June 2026; COP31 Action Agenda
Talking About Climate With Learners
Learning about COP31 means learning about real risks. This guidance helps teachers, parents and youth leaders keep learners informed without leaving them overwhelmed, and discuss fairness between generations without blame.
Why GreenComp, The SDGs And ESG
Following COP31 asks learners to think in systems, check sources, imagine futures and act together. GreenComp, the EU sustainability competence framework, names those skills, and every Basics card, Issue, Table profile and activity is tagged with the competences it builds. The SDGs tab reviews all 169 SDG targets through a COP31 lens and shows honestly which are not applicable. Issues that touch business and finance link to the frameworks in the 169to1 ESG Pulse, including the UK, EU and Türkiye reporting standards.
Teacher's And Student's Notes
Two-page guides for running the tool with a class. Both are also on the Pack tab.
Words To Know
