As Türkiye gears up to host the 31st UN Climate Change Conference (COP31) in 2026, Orhan Solak, deputy director of the Directorate of Climate Change (DCC), emphasized that the objective extends beyond seamless organization and diplomacy—it focuses on fostering permanent climate awareness nationwide.
Solak spoke at the “Awareness Raising Conference on Climate Action in Türkiye After COP30,” held in Istanbul as part of the EU Partnership for Local Climate Action Project in Türkiye.
Funded by the EU and implemented by the UN Development Program (UNDP) Türkiye, the initiative designates the DCC as the final beneficiary.
He highlighted the strategic imperative of translating international decisions into national policies and local actions, stressing the urgency of accelerating Türkiye’s Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) to maintain the 1.5°C global warming limit.
Türkiye is finalizing an updated NDC with a more ambitious 2030 emissions reduction target and a long-term low-emission strategy through 2053, prioritizing renewable energy, energy efficiency, just transitions in coal regions and nature-based solutions.
Solak pointed to the pervasive impacts of climate change, including extreme heat, prolonged droughts, flash floods, water scarcity, forest fires and heightened disaster risks.
Referencing World Meteorological Organization (WMO) data, he noted 2024 as the hottest year on record, with global temperatures surpassing 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels for a full year—the first such occurrence.
“We are living through a period where records are being broken not only in temperature but in all climate parameters,” Solak added.
Solak described COP31—featuring a Leaders’ Summit in Istanbul and the main conference in Antalya—as a pivotal moment to convert COP30 foundations into tangible outcomes.
“COP31 will be a decisive moment to make adaptation targets measurable and suitable for each country’s own conditions, to place climate finance on a more transparent, predictable and accessible basis, and to ensure that just transition and climate policies deliver real protection and support for vulnerable groups,” he said.
He recalled climate finance as a key focus at COP30 in Brazil, where the Baku-to-Belém Roadmap set an annual mobilization goal of $1.3 trillion by 2035, alongside global adaptation indicators and a just transition mechanism.
Solak viewed hosting COP31 as evidence of Türkiye’s organizational prowess and a chance to enhance its role in climate diplomacy, solution-building, consensus and implementation.
“On the road to COP31, we are not limited to technical and diplomatic preparations; we want to build permanent institutional and societal awareness that reaches every corner of the country,” he concluded.
The conference drew UNDP Türkiye Resident Representative Monica Merino, EU Delegation to Türkiye Financial Cooperation Head Maria Luisa Wyganowski, ambassadors, civil society representatives and academics.
