COP31: Turkiye eyes ‘balancing act’ on growth & green goals
However, the Turkish presidency has not yet clarified what this balance will mean for the key issues of climate finance and the transition away from fossil fuels.
It identified nine priority issues as the climate action agenda to define the balance between development and green transformation. These include zero waste, youth and education, food security, green industrialization, resilience, climate action implementation mechanism, climate resilient cities and seas and oceans.
Finance, technology, renewable energy, energy efficiency and the transition away from fossil fuels have not been disrupted as stand-alone issues.
In the climate action agenda, there is also no reference to the plans of the Turkish presidency regarding the road map for transition from fossil fuels, prepared as an initiative of Brazil’s COP30 presidency.
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COP31 presidential candidate Turkish Environment Minister Murat Kurum said that the issue of moving away from fossil fuels had been discussed in previous COPs. “We hope that, based on these decisions, we will take further steps to strengthen them,” he said. Türkiye provides no clear indication of how it proposes to address finance and fossil fuels issues. The mantra is balance. The institution said, “Türkiye is a balancing power between the fossil block and the green block. Türkiye has a disconnected position.” he said.
Speaking at the press conference he held with the Executive Director of the International Energy Agency (IEA), Fatih Birol, Kurum said, “Energy security is currently at the top of the global agenda. Every country needs to take the necessary steps to meet its own energy needs without harming our world or endangering our future.”
But he did not mention fossil fuel addiction. Although countries agreed in Dubai to double the energy efficiency rate by 2030, the focus on energy security does not include energy efficiency.
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Meanwhile, Türkiye is moving quickly to focus on emissions from waste. Zero waste is the Turkish government’s flagship environmental program. Efforts were made to link this program to the climate agenda, focusing on methane reduction.
COP31 has an unusual arrangement: Türkiye will hold the COP31 chairmanship, while Australia will be in charge of the negotiations.
The institution stated that Australia has to carry out all consultations on negotiation issues in coordination with the COP presidency. In other words, it cannot make a decision that is not approved by the COP presidency. We are carrying out this work in full harmony. he said.
How Türkiye and Australia plan to address such critical issues of political importance will be central to successful outcomes at COP31.
