A worker secures a Cop31 banner above the Turkish mission across from UN headquarters in New York, 18 September 2026. (Geneva Solutions/Paula Dupraz-Dobias)

Is the UN’s climate conference circuit waning? The Cop31 climate conference is just a month away. Yet, surprisingly, after a year of intensifying disasters and a historic legal precedent, the drumroll ahead of the session in Antalya has been fainter, with climate action coming from beyond the UN climate cycle.

⛏️MINING GOVERNANCE. Within walking distance of commodity giants deepening their involvement in the race for critical minerals, policymakers will meet with industry and civil society groups to discuss the future of the sector.

Till Wednesday, the UN trade and development agency, Unctad, hosts the annual meeting of the Intergovernmental Forum on Mining, Minerals, Metals and Sustainable Development.

Critical timing. As prices for minerals surge to new highs amid rising demand for use in data centres, AI defence applications and the energy transition, metals-rich countries are hoping to flip sourcing of their resources from what has often been seen as a historic curse to a sustainable benefit.

On the agenda. Discussions will include building better partnerships to create more jobs, including by developing more resilient value chains as well as the environmental and social risks associated with mining exploration.

Informality. With 90 per cent of the world’s mining workforce estimated to be artisanal, mostly informally employed miners, panellists will also discuss responsible sourcing, currently the focus of a landmark trial in London.

The case involves the deaths of two artisanal gold miners in Tanzania and tests whether the London Bullion Market Association can be held accountable for abuses in the supply chain.

👥UNHCR HUDDLE. The executive committee of the UN refugee agency will gather for their annual meeting to review and approve the organisation's programmes and budget, amid ongoing financial strains.

In August, Reuters reported that donor cuts had forced it to reduce its budget by 16 per cent and cut 3,500 of its workforce for 2027. The planned budget will be the smallest in ten years, at a time when the number of people displaced globally is expected to surge to a record high

Standoff with US. Meanwhile, the recent appointment of a US national as deputy head has added to tensions between UNHCR and Washington, one of its top donors.

Tressa Rae Finerty, who was appointed by the agency after a Trump nominee had been rejected for the job, recently took leave as she seeks a waiver to work with US officials, who have refused to interact with her.

🕊️OSLO VISIT. Former UN rights chief Navi Pillay will be marking her diary to be in the Norwegian capital on 10 December, when she will receive the Nobel Peace Award.

The South African, who had been part of the anti-apartheid movement, also served as an International Criminal Court judge, and led an independent commission of inquiry at the UN Human Rights Council which concluded that Israel had committed “genocidal acts”.

Unlike the 2025 previous laureate, Venezuelan opposition leader Marina Corina Machado, she is unlikely to share the prize with Trump – despite joking about it on Friday.

— Paula Dupraz-Dobias