Delegates at COP31: A Breakdown of the Leading Participating Nations

Record Attendance Expected at COP31 in Antalya

Over 92,000 individuals have signed up for the upcoming COP31 climate summit in Antalya, Turkey, positioning it to be the largest Conference of the Parties (COP) ever held.

An analysis from Carbon Brief of the provisional delegate lists, released by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), indicates that more than 14,000 delegates have registered as “host country guests.” This figure notably exceeds the approximately 1,000 guests recorded at COP30, held last year in Belém, Brazil.

Notably, the United States under Donald Trump has opted not to send a delegation, echoing a similar absence from nations including Israel and Myanmar.

While it was reported that Taliban officials from Afghanistan were registered as observers for the event, the provisional lists do not include delegates from observer states.

Additionally, over 3,000 participants will be attending COP31 virtually, bringing the total registrations to over 95,000.

Delegates by Category

COP31 is poised to set a record with a provisional count of 92,934 participants, surpassing COP28 in Dubai, which attracted more than 80,000 attendees. The UNFCCC will release final attendance numbers after the conclusion of the summit, based on in-person badge collection.

The provisional figures for COP31 indicate that the largest group comprises delegates representing parties, totaling 18,812 participants—the second highest after COP28.

The UNFCCC’s participant lists categorize attendees by different groups. The category of party delegates includes nation-states and the European Union, which have ratified the convention and are actively involved in negotiations.

The number of party representatives is expected to exceed 34,000 when including overflow delegates, who previously had been unnamed in official lists.

Delegation Sizes by Country

The size of each delegation from various nations has been mapped and tabulated, with darker shades indicating a larger number of delegates. Turkey, as the host country, leads the list with 2,950 participants.

Brazil follows with 1,994 delegates, while Nigeria, China, and Indonesia have registered 1,506, 1,021, and 978 individuals respectively. Other notable countries include Australia (835), Uganda (627), Italy (607), Japan (588), and Kazakhstan (557).

The UK has a considerably smaller delegation with 255 participants. In contrast, North Korea has the smallest registered group, with only two delegates, followed by Eritrea and Nicaragua with three, and San Marino and Trinidad and Tobago, each with four.

It’s important to note that certain countries, like Brazil, may allocate a portion of their party badges to NGOs, potentially inflating their official delegation numbers.

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