Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change Minister Murat Kurum has said Türkiye values Russia’s support during preparations for COP31, which will be hosted by Türkiye in Antalya next year.
Kurum, who also serves as COP31 president, held talks in Moscow with Russian Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin, Construction, Housing and Utilities Minister Irek Faizullin and Russia’s climate envoy Ruslan Edelgeriev.
The meetings focused on COP31 preparations, climate action, urban transformation and cooperation in environment and urban planning.
Speaking alongside Khusnullin before their meeting, Kurum said Türkiye and Russia had deep-rooted ties and broad cooperation in several areas.
“Türkiye and Russia are two key actors with deep historical ties that shape the fate of the Eurasian geography,” Kurum said.
He said relations between the two countries go beyond neighborhood ties and include energy, trade, tourism and urban development.
Kurum said Türkiye and Russia also share a broad vision in urban planning.
“We build our cities not only with concrete and steel, but with our common mind, culture and hopes for the future,” he said.
He pointed to Türkiye’s post-earthquake reconstruction work after the February 2023 earthquakes, saying 455,000 homes had been delivered in 11 provinces in two years.
Kurum also thanked Russia for its assistance after the earthquakes.
He said a memorandum on urban planning signed in Cairo was one of the concrete examples of cooperation between the two countries.
Kurum said Türkiye wanted to combine its experience in urban transformation and reconstruction with Russia’s technical capacity to build safer, smarter and more human-centered cities.
On COP31, Kurum said Türkiye wanted the Antalya summit to move from words to implementation.
“As Türkiye, in the COP31 process that we chair, we believe it is now necessary to move from words to action and implementation,” he said.
“At this point, we attach great importance to the support of our Russian friends,” he added.
Kurum said joint work between the two countries in areas including urban transformation, energy-efficient buildings, digital city management and green infrastructure could serve as a model beyond their region.
In his meeting with Edelgeriev, Kurum outlined Türkiye’s COP31 Action Agenda, including targets to raise electricity’s share in final energy use to 35 percent by 2035 and reduce energy-use intensity in buildings by at least 25 percent.
He also discussed the Climate Implementation Bridge and the goal of increasing the global circular material use rate in manufacturing to at least 15 percent.
Kurum said Russia’s experience in combating climate change and green transformation would make an important contribution to the COP31 process.
