Türkiye’s new Mediterranean climate center in Istanbul will become operational in 2026 after COP24 delegates approved its mandate, budget and work program in Cairo, Egypt.
The 24th Conference of the Contracting Parties to the Barcelona Convention, known as COP24, met in the Egyptian capital from Dec. 2–5 to adopt new regional frameworks and funding decisions.
Delegates at the conference also adopted two key policy frameworks — the Mediterranean Strategy for Sustainable Development (MSSD) 2026–2035 and the Regional Climate Change Adaptation Framework (RCCAF) 2026–2035 — along with the Convention’s budget and work program for 2026–2027.
Türkiye was reelected as a full member of the Convention’s Compliance Committee, completing the final step toward establishing the center under the host-country agreement.
The new center aims to protect at least 30 percent of the Mediterranean Sea by 2030, coordinate regional climate-resilience efforts and lead implementation of the Regional Climate Change Adaptation Framework across coastal states.
Deputy Minister of Environment, Urbanisation and Climate Change Fatma Varank said the center will reinforce Türkiye’s leadership and support a new generation of climate-resilience projects and policy processes under a strengthened institutional framework.
Varank said: “In the coming years, Türkiye will be at the center of climate action both nationally and internationally.”
Türkiye will host and chair COP31, the United Nations Climate Change Conference, in 2026, following negotiations led by Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change Minister Murat Kurum at COP30, held in Belem, Brazil, in November 2025.
