Statements from Minister Kurum at the COP31 Summit Starting in Antalya

Speaking at the COP31 summit that started in Antalya with the participation of world leaders, Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change Minister Murat Kurum stated that the 1.5-degree target should be a shared compass and delivered critical messages on climate action, finance, and resilience.

Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change Minister Murat Kurum made important statements at the COP31 summit in Antalya, which started with the participation of world leaders. Reminding that in 2024 the global average temperature exceeded the pre-industrial level by 1.5 degrees Celsius on an annual basis, Minister Kurum emphasized that this target should be a shared compass. Referring in his speech to the floods in Nepal, the situation in Pakistan, and climate events in the Pacific, Kurum called for increasing implementation capacity without wasting time.

Minister Kurum stated that they put forward three strong wills in Antalya together with Australia, which holds the COP31 presidency. First, he stated that national climate targets need to be transformed into investment programs, and they made a commitment to increase the share of electricity in final energy consumption to 35 percent by 2035. He also drew attention to the importance of tools such as the Zero Waste Movement, circular economy, and the reduction of methane emissions.

Stating secondly that the transition from pledges to access in climate finance must be made, Kurum noted that mechanisms making finance more rapidly accessible will be strengthened, and that the climate implementation bridge developed as the COP31 presidency will connect national plans with projects and finance. Thirdly, asking for resilience to be placed at the center of national development policies, Kurum announced that Turkey is ready to share its reconstruction experience gained in earthquake zones through the 500 thousand climate-resilient houses it built in two years with countries struggling against climate-induced disasters.