Minister Kurum Announces COP31 Targets: Antalya Will Host 1.5 Million Guests

Minister of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change Murat Kurum announced that Turkey is preparing to host 85 world leaders and approximately 1.5 million guests in Antalya during its COP31 presidency process.

Zero Waste and Economic Gains

Speaking at a panel held at the Presidency's Directorate of Communications, Minister Kurum emphasized that the Zero Waste Movement has turned into a national mobilization. Stating that the recovery rate, which was 13 percent in 2017, was raised to 37 percent as of 2025, Kurum announced that approximately 365 billion liras of contribution was provided to the economy through the recovery of 90 million tons of waste in this process.

Drawing attention to the efficiency of the Deposit Return System, Kurum reported that 520 million packages have been reintroduced to the economy through this system. The minister stated that urban transformation efforts against the destructive effects of the climate crisis must be handled as a matter of national security.

2035 Vision and Technical Support Models

Among the 10 main priorities determined for COP31, the targets to halve the increase in global municipal waste generation by 2035 and to reduce the energy use intensity of buildings by 25 percent stand out. Stating that Turkey's peaceful diplomacy will inspire the summit, Kurum noted that dialogue grounds will be transformed into concrete actions.

The importance of models such as the SURFF Project and the Climate Implementation Bridge (BRIDGE) developed by İLBANK was mentioned in order to turn climate targets into feasible projects. These projects aim to provide technical support and financing for countries' climate change combat targets.