COP31 registration list names 92,934 in-person participants and 2,950 from Türkiye

What happened

Provisional UNFCCC participant data indicates that 92,934 people have registered to attend COP31 in Antalya in person. More than 3,000 additional people are listed for virtual participation, bringing all registrations to above 95,000, according to Carbon Brief’s review of the data.

Türkiye has the largest listed national delegation, at 2,950 people. Brazil follows with 1,994, then Nigeria with 1,506, China with 1,021 and Indonesia with 978. Australia, Uganda, Italy, Japan and Kazakhstan make up the remaining five countries in the 10 largest delegations. The UK is listed with 255 delegates.

For those assessing the scale of the summit, the immediate next step is to distinguish these registration figures from final participation: the UNFCCC will publish its confirmed count after the meeting, based on physical badges collected on site.

Why it matters

The current in-person total is higher than the final attendance figure of more than 80,000 reported for COP28 in Dubai. It therefore suggests COP31 could set a new high-water mark for the size of a COP, although that comparison remains provisional until badge-collection data is released.

Party representatives account for 18,812 registrations in the current dataset, a total exceeded only by COP28. Carbon Brief says that including overflow registrations lifts the number of people representing parties beyond 34,000. Delegation totals should not, however, be read as a direct measure of negotiating influence. Countries can assign party credentials to non-government organisations; Carbon Brief identifies Brazil as an example.

More than 14,000 registrants are recorded as host-country guests, compared with about 1,000 in the equivalent provisional COP30 list. The United States, Israel and Myanmar do not have delegations on the provisional COP31 lists.

Delegation distribution

At the lower end of the national totals, North Korea is listed with two delegates. Eritrea and Nicaragua each have three, while San Marino and Trinidad and Tobago each have four.

The UNFCCC’s eventual attendance release will determine how many registered participants entered the venue and provide the comparable final figure for COP31.