Antalya green zone to serve as COP31 climate action hub

ANTALYA

Türkiye is creating a 582,000-square-meter Green Zone in the southern province of Antalya for the COP31 climate summit to connect everyday citizens, entrepreneurs, and businesses through actionable climate solutions.

The summit will occupy about 1.1 million square meters, including a 527,000-square-meter Blue Zone for negotiations among world leaders. The Green Zone will demonstrate how climate commitments can be put into practice, with activities across 12 themes covering issues such as green energy, zero waste management and food sourcing.

Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change Minister Murat Kurum, who also serves as COP31 president, said the area would bring children, young people, entrepreneurs and the business community together. Concerts, exhibitions and talks will give the space a festival atmosphere, and he invited citizens to attend.

“Here, dialogue turns into consensus and ideas into action,” Kurum said in a social media post, describing the zone as Türkiye’s face to the world. “It will be a hub for climate solutions, from Zero Waste to science, from resilient cities to startups.”

Thematic centers will focus on zero waste, climate finance, energy and transportation, science and technology, resilient cities, green industrialization, culture and civilization and business, with the latter represented by the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Türkiye (TOBB). A startup zone and COPArt are also planned.

Organizers envision a space where participants jointly develop and apply solutions under the principle of leaving no one behind. More than 45,000 people from 154 countries have applied to volunteer at the summit, while nearly 2,000 nongovernmental organizations and municipalities have sought to participate.

Public and private preschools, primary schools and middle schools under the local education directorate will switch to remote learning on Nov. 11 and 12 to ease potential summit-related traffic congestion. The decision covers seven districts: Aksu, Döşemealtı, Konyaaltı, Muratpaşa, Kepez, Manavgat and Serik.

COP31 is the 31st Conference of the Parties to the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change. These annual meetings bring member countries together to review implementation of the convention and decide how to advance the international response to climate change. A key task is to assess national emissions inventories and reports, allowing countries to review the effects of climate measures and progress toward the goals of the convention.