COP31 and India's climate year: targets, wetlands and lions: explained simply

What happened

COP31 meets in Antalya, Turkiye, from 9 to 20 November 2026, with Turkish minister Murat Kurum as President and Australia's Chris Bowen as President of Negotiations. India's year had three strands. On targets, the Cabinet approved India's third Nationally Determined Contribution on 25 March and India submitted it on 24 April: a 47 percent cut in emissions intensity of GDP from 2005 levels by 2035, 60 percent non-fossil installed power capacity and an extra 3.5 to 4 billion tonnes of carbon sink. On wetlands, India's Ramsar tally rose from 96 in December 2025 to 103 by October 2026. On wildlife, the Asiatic lion count of 891 was cited on World Lion Day and lions returned to Barda.

Why it matters

Environment questions reward numbers with dates: the COP venue and president, India's NDC targets, the Ramsar count and the newest sites, and the lion census. The mid-year Bonn talks and the UN votes on the ICJ climate opinion and on sea-level rise give statement-based questions, and India's abstention on the ICJ resolution is exactly the kind of detail an examiner uses.

Timeline

10 Dec2025
Siliserh Lake (Alwar, Rajasthan) and Kopra Jalashay (Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh's first) become India's 95th and 96th Ramsar sites
14 Jan2026
Copernicus ranks 2025 the third-warmest year on record at 1.47 C above pre-industrial; 2023 to 2025 is the first three-year period to average more than 1.5 C
31 Jan2026
Chhari-Dhand (Kutch, Gujarat) and Patna Bird Sanctuary (Etah, Uttar Pradesh) are designated, taking India's Ramsar tally to 98 just before World Wetlands Day
23 Mar2026
WMO's State of the Global Climate 2025 report, released on World Meteorological Day, says Earth's energy imbalance and ocean heat content reached record levels; 2015 to 2025 was the warmest 11-year period
25 Mar2026
The Union Cabinet approves India's NDC for 2031 to 2035: 47 percent cut in emissions intensity of GDP from 2005 levels, 60 percent non-fossil installed power capacity and an additional 3.5 to 4 billion tonnes CO2e carbon sink by 2035
22 Apr2026
Shekha Jheel Bird Sanctuary in Aligarh becomes India's 99th Ramsar site; Uttar Pradesh's count rises to 12
24 Apr2026
India submits the updated NDC for 2031 to 2035 to the UNFCCC; it is an intensity target, not an economy-wide emissions cap
20 May2026
The UN General Assembly adopts a Vanuatu-tabled resolution endorsing the ICJ's July 2025 climate advisory opinion by 141 votes to 8 with 28 abstentions; the United States, Russia and Saudi Arabia are among those against and India abstains; the resolution is not binding
29 May2026
IMD lowers its monsoon forecast to 90 percent of the long period average (plus or minus 4 percent), down from 92 percent in April, citing a developing El Nino, and flags above-normal heatwave days in June
8 Jun2026
The Bonn SB64 talks (8 to 18 June), the first major UN climate meeting since COP30 in Belem, end without agreed text on the global goal on adaptation; disputes are deferred to COP31
15 Jun2026
During the 8 to 18 June session: India tells the opening plenary on 8 June that no new obligations beyond agreed mandates should be added and presses for the Article 9.1 work programme on developed-country finance; later in the session, as reported by Carbon Brief, India and Saudi Arabia argue there are varying perspectives on tipping-point science
3 Aug2026
Glaw Lake in Lohit district, inside Kamlang Tiger Reserve, becomes Arunachal Pradesh's first Ramsar site and India's 101st (106.79 ha); India had 26 sites in 2014
10 Aug2026
On World Lion Day the Environment Minister cites the Asiatic lion count of 891 (16th estimation, 2025), up from 674 in 2020; lions range over about 35,000 sq km in 11 Gujarat districts
17 Aug2026
The Supreme Court orders a nationwide survey of elephant corridors, says states cannot obstruct them citing crop damage and bars fireballs and mashaals to drive elephants away
3 Sep2026
WMO says El Nino is firmly established, with a near 100 percent likelihood it persists through February 2027 and a possible very strong peak late in 2026; a positive Indian Ocean Dipole is forecast
24 Sep2026
The UN General Assembly adopts its first declaration on sea-level rise and statehood, backing continued statehood and stable maritime zones for states losing territory
3 Oct2026
As announced: COP31 confirmed for Antalya, Turkiye, 9 to 20 November 2026, with Murat Kurum as COP31 President and Chris Bowen (Australia) as President of Negotiations; leaders' summit on 11 and 12 November
15 Oct2026
A PLOS One study reports 17 Asiatic lions in Barda Wildlife Sanctuary, Gujarat, back after an absence of nearly 144 years, and says the sanctuary can support a long-term population
15 Oct2026
Sukhna Wetland (Chandigarh) and Sauj Jheel (Uttar Pradesh) are added, taking India's Ramsar tally to 103

Words to know

COP and the UNFCCC: The Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (adopted 1992, in force 1994, secretariat in Bonn). COP30 was held in Belem, Brazil in 2025; COP31 is in Antalya, Turkiye in November 2026. SBI and SBSTA are the UNFCCC's two subsidiary bodies, which met in Bonn in June.
Paris Agreement and NDCs: Adopted in 2015 at COP21; aims to keep warming well below 2 C and pursue 1.5 C. Each country files a Nationally Determined Contribution. India's first NDC was submitted in 2015 and updated in 2022; the 2031 to 2035 NDC was approved in March 2026. India announced its 2070 net-zero target at COP26 in Glasgow.
Article 9.1: The Paris Agreement provision under which developed countries shall provide financial resources to assist developing countries; India pressed for a work programme on it at Bonn.
Ramsar Convention: The wetlands treaty adopted on 2 February 1971 at Ramsar, Iran, in force 1975; World Wetlands Day is 2 February. The convention entered into force for India on 1 February 1982, and Chilika and Keoladeo were India's first sites in 1981. Sundarban is India's largest Ramsar site by area and Tamil Nadu had the most sites among states as of December 2025. India's Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules 2017 are made under the Environment (Protection) Act 1986.
Project Lion and Gir: Project Lion was announced on 15 August 2020. Gujarat is the only home of wild lions outside Africa: the Gir landscape is the core, about half the population lived outside core Gir per the 2025 estimation, and Barda, also in Gujarat, held 17 lions as of the October 2026 study. The Asiatic lion is on Schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act and listed as Endangered by the IUCN (as of October 2026).
ICJ climate advisory opinion: Given by the International Court of Justice at The Hague in July 2025 on states' climate obligations; the UN General Assembly endorsed it in May 2026 with India abstaining.
El Nino and the Indian Ocean Dipole: El Nino is the warm phase of ENSO and typically weakens the Indian summer monsoon; a positive Indian Ocean Dipole can offset its effect. IMD cut its 2026 monsoon forecast to 90 percent of the long period average in May as El Nino built, and WMO, the UN weather agency headquartered in Geneva, issued the September 2026 warning.
Project Elephant: Launched in 1992. The Asian elephant was declared National Heritage Animal in 2010 and is on Schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972; the Wildlife Institute of India identified 150 corridors in 2023.

What an exam could ask

COP31's host city and country, dates, and the two presiding officers could be asked, with COP30 (Belem) as the comparison.
India's 2035 NDC numbers (47 percent intensity cut from 2005, 60 percent non-fossil capacity, 3.5 to 4 billion tonnes sink) and the 2070 net-zero year could be asked.
The Ramsar tally (103 as of October 2026), the newest sites and the first sites for Chhattisgarh and Arunachal Pradesh could be asked as a match-the-state item.
The Asiatic lion figures (891 in 2025, 674 in 2020) and Barda's return could be asked alongside Project Lion's 2020 launch.
The UN General Assembly votes (141 to 8 on the ICJ opinion with India abstaining; the first sea-level rise declaration) could be asked as a statement-based question.

Angles to revise, not predictions.

Sources

Written from verified news. Errors can occur: verify important facts with official sources.