World Leaders Gather at COP31 in Turkey as US Sends No Delegation and Turkey Signs Loan Deals

Dozens of world leaders gathered in Antalya, Turkey, on Wednesday, the third day of the COP31 climate summit, where Marshall Islands President Hilda Heine warned that overshooting the 1.5C Paris target without an overwhelming response would end the world as people know it. Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley said the UN estimates the world is heading for 2.6 degrees even if every pledge is delivered, and 2.8 degrees on current policies. The United States sent no delegation after President Donald Trump refused, and he withdrew the country from the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change by executive order in January. California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, is attending with a delegation including his wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, and Natural Resources Secretary Wade Crowfoot. He said California's partnerships will outlast Trump. On Thursday, Turkey signed 10 loan agreements worth $5.1 billion with the Asian Development Bank, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, the World Bank and the Islamic Development Bank. Treasury and Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek said no country's budget could meet the transition's needs alone, and that Turkey has secured about $50 billion in external financing since 2023.

Left-leaning outlets split between the summit's substance and the US absence. The Guardian leads with Heine's and Mottley's warnings and the call for urgent action on fossil fuels, while The New York Times headlines Trump's refusal to send a delegation. The Washington Examiner, on the right, treats the story through Newsom. It stresses his second consecutive rebuke of Trump, his expected 2028 presidential bid, and his statement accusing Trump of serving fossil fuel donors. Both sides agree the US is absent and that Trump is the reason. They differ in focus: the left foregrounds climate stakes and the US no-show, while the right foregrounds a Democratic politician's criticism. Alternative outlets add a separate angle: Middle East Eye and The Times of India report Turkish financing, including Simsek's remarks and a record $1.6 billion from the AIIB.