Queen Mary of Denmark Joins COP31 Climate Talks in Turkey
Queen Mary of Denmark is in Antalya, Turkey, for COP31, the United Nations climate conference. Her three-day visit began Sunday evening, 8 November, according to Town & Country. The conference itself runs from 9 to 20 November. COP stands for "Conference of the Parties," the countries that signed the UN climate treaty and meet each year to review progress.
Denmark's royal household, the palace office that handles the monarch's schedule, announced the trip in October. It said the queen would attend the summit from 8 to 10 November (Kongehuset). She is traveling with Samira Nawa, Denmark's minister for climate, energy and utilities, the cabinet member who oversees the country's climate and energy policy.
The queen's first official stop was the Danish Pavilion, the national exhibit space at the summit's expo. Danish companies are showing climate-related products and solutions there, and Queen Mary opened the space. She later visited the Australian pavilion, where she met Chris Bowen, Australia's minister for climate change and energy. She wore a dark green power suit to the meeting.
The summit has a split leadership. Turkey chairs COP31, which means it hosts the event and holds the presidency. Australia is leading the negotiations. Turkey's presidency has set a goal of electrifying more than a third of the global economy by 2035, Reuters reported.
Denmark's monarch has no role in setting government policy. At a summit like this, the queen's job is to appear with ministers, visit exhibits, and draw attention to the country's climate work. For American readers, a reigning monarch at a UN climate meeting is an unfamiliar picture. Denmark is one of several European monarchies where the royal family takes on this kind of public role alongside the elected government.
The talks run through 20 November. Queen Mary's scheduled stay ends on 10 November, so her visit covers the first days of the two-week meeting rather than its final agreements.
