Turkey says COP31 will push for more global action
Türkiye, which is preparing to host and chair COP31, says it will aim to turn past decisions into action, with financing being the main focus of the United Nations climate summit.
Environment and Climate Change Minister Murat Kurum said financing was the most important task and almost US$1 trillion ($A1.4 trillion) was needed to help developing countries meet climate change targets.
He said that it is essential to raise public awareness about climate policies at a time when wars and security crises dominate the global agenda.
“Important decisions have been taken in every COP so far,” the institution said in an interview at the diplomatic forum held in Antalya over the weekend.
“We will follow these decisions, but the important thing is to implement them.
“The expectation of the world and humanity from us is to put it into practice.
“Let’s take steps to implement the NDCs that countries have put forward – and there are countries that have not put them forward,” the body said, referring to each country’s nationally determined contribution (NDC).
He said that at a time when wars are inevitable, Türkiye will call on every nation to focus on the “big picture” and see the immediate threats posed by climate change.
The annual COP conference is the main global forum aimed at taking action on climate change.
The long-standing consensus among scientists around the world is that climate change is real, caused mostly by humans, and is getting worse.
The main reason for this is greenhouse gas emissions from burning fossil fuels such as coal, oil and gas, which trap heat in the atmosphere.
After a long break in 2025, Turkey and Australia agreed on a format in which Türkiye will host and chair the COP31 summit in November, while Australian Minister of Climate Change and Energy Chris Bowen will lead the negotiation process.
The COP conference will take place in Antalya province in southern Türkiye in November.
The minister, who will also be COP31 President, said Türkiye wants the conference to be an “implementation COP” where actions take precedence over words.
“We want all countries to hand in their NDCs by COP31. We are working for this, we are also working for this within the UN,” he said, adding that $150 million in financing was needed for developing countries to prepare their NDCs.
One of the key perceived shortcomings of the 2025 COP30 was the lack of a concrete agreement on language that would encourage a global phase-out of fossil fuels.
When asked how the issue will be addressed at COP31, Kurum said that Türkiye aims to pressure countries to implement the decisions taken on this issue at COP30 and that it is adding technology that will allow the further development of such a change.
He stated that Türkiye uses both renewable energy and fossil fuel to meet its own needs and become self-sufficient, but will move away from this if it finds cheaper energy with new technologies.
“We must put the move away from fossil fuels on the global agenda by ensuring a transition process,” he said.
“During COP31, we will implement the partial decisions taken at COP30.”
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