Türkiye wants the COP31 U.N. Climate Summit in Antalya to focus on turning climate commitments into concrete action, Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change Minister Murat Kurum has said.
Speaking during London Climate Action Week, Kurum said the summit should produce practical results in areas that directly affect people’s lives, from energy bills and transport to waste management and resilient cities.
Kurum, Türkiye’s COP31 president-designate, said the international community was meeting at a time of overlapping economic, security and climate pressures.
He said Türkiye had shaped its COP31 agenda after consultations with parties and had identified areas where progress could be made.
The main priorities will include electrification, climate finance, waste management, resilient cities, green industrialization and climate education, Kurum said.
On electrification, he said Türkiye wants to advance a global target for electricity to account for 35 percent of final energy consumption by 2035.
The target would require faster electrification in transport, buildings and industry, while rising electricity demand would need to be met with more clean energy, he said.
Kurum also said climate finance would be central to the summit, stressing that developing countries must have access to the resources needed to meet shared climate goals.
He called on donor countries to fulfill their previous commitments and said Türkiye’s COP31 presidency would keep finance high on the agenda.
Waste management will also be one of the priorities of the Antalya summit, Kurum said, adding that Türkiye wants to discuss a global target to slow the increase in waste generation by 2035.
He said reducing methane from landfills was one of the fastest and most practical ways to slow global warming.
Kurum also pointed to resilient cities, citing Türkiye’s reconstruction work after the 2023 earthquakes.
He said Türkiye wants COP31 to address a target to reduce energy consumption intensity in the building sector by at least 25 percent by 2035.
Green industrialization will be another focus, including wider use of recycled materials in production and manufacturing, he said.
Kurum said Türkiye would also launch the Climate Implementation Bridge initiative, aimed at aligning climate goals with economic development policies, particularly in developing and least-developed countries.
He added that climate literacy was necessary to maintain public support for climate action and said Türkiye wants climate change to be included in more education curricula by 2030.
During his London visit, Kurum also met U.K. Energy Secretary Ed Miliband.
Kurum said the meeting covered climate finance, energy transition, electrification and the Zero Waste initiative.
He said the United Kingdom’s experience in previous COP processes and its work on clean energy transition would contribute to preparations for COP31.
London Climate Action Week runs from June 20 to 28 and brings together government officials, businesses, cities, civil society groups and climate experts from around the world.
