Speaking at the Joint Meeting of COP Former Presidents held at the Mevlânâ Celâleddîn-i Rûmî Press Conference Hall, COP Presidents Advisory Group Chairman and COP21 President Laurent Fabius said, "We will support Türkiye during the COP31 presidency. We will support Australia, the Chairman of Negotiations. COP31 will strengthen trust in terms of multilateralism, which will prove by showing what our collective decisions can do." COP31 President Kurum said, "Today will actually be a first in the history of the COP. Our former presidents, as all COP presidents, are issuing a declaration and they are here today to contribute and support the COP31 process. I would like to thank all COP presidents for the work they have done and the support they have given to this process so far. Of course, the real value of our common decisions will be possible with the implementation of these decisions. That is why we want to make COP31 an implementation COP. This is the basis of this understanding. 'Antalya is a "We will hold a conference in Antalya where we can say 'things have changed, we have made important decisions for our future'," he said.
COP Former Presidents held a Joint Meeting at the Mevlânâ Celâleddîn-i Rûmî Press Conference Hall in the Blue Zone in Antalya. At the meeting attended by COP31 President and Minister of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change Murat Kurum, COP31 Negotiations President and Australian Minister of Climate Change and Energy Chris Bowen, COP Presidents Advisory Group President and COP21 President Laurent Fabius, COP30 President Andre Correa do Lago (Brazil), COP29 Chief Negotiator and Azerbaijani Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Yalçın Rafiyev, COP26 President Alok Sharma. (United Kingdom), COP24 President Michał Kurtyka (Poland) and UN 75th General Assembly President Volkan Bozkır were present. In the program moderated by Alexander Siaer, COP Presidents Advisory Group President Fabius read the declaration of support for the COP31 Presidency, prepared by the joint decision of all former COP presidencies of the last 5 terms.
JOINT STATEMENT: COP31 WILL STRENGTHEN CONFIDENCE IN MULTILATERALISM
Fabius said, "We will support Türkiye during its COP31 presidency. We will support Australia, the Chairman of Negotiations. We will support all together in the meetings. COP31 will strengthen trust in the sense of multilateralism, which will prove by showing what our collective decisions can do."
“TODAY WILL ACTUALLY BE A FIRST IN THE HISTORY OF COP”
Explaining that he welcomed the decision, COP31 President Kurum said, "Today will actually be a first in the history of the COP. Hopefully, it will be stronger and more beautiful. But as all COP presidents, our former presidents are issuing a declaration and they are here today to contribute and support the COP31 process. I would like to thank all COP presidents for the work they have done and the support they have given to this process so far. Of course, Mr. Fabius is our grandfather among the COP presidents and he is a really nice personality. Thank you, he embraces every issue, he embraces everything." We, as the COP31 Presidency, welcome the joint declaration prepared by the presidencies from COP21 to COP30 to support the issue. That is why we want to make COP31 the implementation COP. This is the basis of this understanding with Australia. "We are doing it together. As my dear friend Chris said, we are working as one team. This is very important. Frankly, this is the first time that two countries are fighting together. I also express my gratitude to my dear Chris."
“WE RENEWED OUR DETERMINATION TO KEEP THE 1.5 DEGREE TARGET REACHABLE”
Drawing attention to the COP decisions taken so far, COP31 President Kurum said that COP31 brought all these spirits together: We created the common framework of the climate struggle together in Paris. We strengthened our commitment to implementation in Marrakesh. With the Talanoa dialogue in Fiji, we have actually expanded the understanding of inclusive consultation in the current process. In Glasgow, we reiterated our determination to keep the 1.5 degree target achievable. We completed the first global stocktaking in Dubai and actually adopted global resilience as the framework. We also set a new climate finance target in Baku. In fact, a will for this was put forward at every COP, and the financial target was set within this framework again in Baku. Again, we completed the rules regarding Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, and finally, in Belem, we adopted a broader understanding of mobilization that will accelerate the implementation of the global Muciaro Decision. The main issue before us today, the main responsibility, is to turn these decisions into concrete results in our countries and in people's lives.
“WE INVITE ALL PARTIES TO SUBMIT THEIR NATIONAL CONTRIBUTION STATEMENTS ASAP”
Stating that they consider it a priority to accelerate implementation in the fields of mitigation, adaptation and financing in the second decade of the Paris Agreement, COP31 President Kurum said, "The 2025 National Contribution Declarations Synthesis report reveals the need for stronger implementation along with the progress achieved. For this reason, we invite all parties that have not submitted their national contribution declarations by 2035 to submit their declarations as soon as possible. We consider the finance target adopted in Baku as an important achievement, and in this context, capacity building opportunities are also important and the process is very important in this sense." "As the COP31 Presidency, we have established our work on the basis of dialogue, consensus and action since the first day. We have reflected this understanding in our close cooperation with Australia, and we aim to ensure that the negotiation process and the practices on the ground support each other," he said.
2035 GLOBAL GOALS AND CLIMATE IMPLEMENTATION BRIDGE
Minister Kurum explained the 10 priority topics of the COP31 Action Agenda: Zero Waste, Clean Energy Conversion/Electrification, Food Security, Climate Resilient Cities, Climate Implementation Bridge, Green Industrialization, Youth and Education, Oceans and Seas, Rio Synergy and Dynamic and Resilient Health Systems. Emphasizing electrification as one of the 6 global implementation targets of the COP31 Presidency for 2035, COP31 President Kurum continued: 'What is being done about fossil fuels at COP31?' is the question. In fact, we will make concrete progress in fossil fuel and emission reductions with the global electrification target of 35 by 2035 that we have set. I want to underline this as important. Because today, we predict that when the targets of the COP31 Action Agenda are achieved, world emissions can be reduced by 30 percent by 2035. This is very important. Of course, we need finance to do this. The countries I just mentioned need to give the finances they have committed to the countries in need as soon as possible, and in this sense, we are implementing an internal mechanism at COP31, which we call the Climate Implementation Bridge, which will combine finance with implementation. We worked together with UNDP, and in this context, we are taking steps with determination to bring finance together with countries in need.
“THE IMPACT OF PAST COP DECISIONS WILL INCREASE FURTHER”
COP31 President Kurum concluded his speech as follows: Hopefully, with all these studies, the impact of past COP decisions will increase even more. We wish to help each of you in this conciliation session with your experience and knowledge, strengthening this trust between the parties and developing common solutions. Of course, the joint declaration is very, very important. The road from Paris to Antalya was shaped by the common will of the international community. Our goal in Antalya is to deliver results that move this knowledge forward, strengthen trust between countries and accelerate the implementation of climate action. We believe that the trust in multilateral cooperation will make the common will that our joint decisions reveal on the field even stronger with results. We wish COP31 to be a turning point in the second decade of the Paris Agreement, reinforcing this trust. We will determinedly lay out the path to implementation in Antalya and say 'Something has changed in Antalya. We will hold a conference in Antalya where we can say 'we have made important decisions for our future'. I would like to thank each and every one of you for your contributions to the international climate struggle and the solidarity you have shown to our COP31 presidency. They did a very important job. They did a very valuable job. And together we will show this determination at COP31.
BOZKIR: I THANK MURAT KURUM, HE WAS AT THE TOP OF ALL OPERATIONS
Speaking at the meeting, Volkan Bozkır, 75th Term President of the UN General Assembly and Member of the COP31 International Advisory Board, said that the COP is one of the largest operations in the world. Underlining that not only governments but also many international institutions and organizations support this process, Bozkır said, "Non-governmental organizations, business world, universities, all parties concerned about our world have been in this process for many years. That is why I would like to thank the efforts they have made for many years. We would also like to thank Mr. Murat Kurum. He was at the top of all operations. It is not an easy operation at all, I can say that." Bozkır said that the participants showed great interest on the first day of the summit and that there were nearly 100 thousand participants.
BOWEN: WE ARE ONE TEAM WITH Türkiye
Chairman of Negotiations and Australian Minister of Climate Change and Energy, Chris Bowen, said in his speech that they started an innovative partnership this year under the leadership of the COP31 President Institution: This COP is the implementation and acceleration COP. Murat and I, Türkiye and Australia, joined forces to help the world. When you think about it, it actually puts serious pressure on any country. We tried to share the pressure here. We tried to share the workforce and workload. This innovative partnership will support the world. The question here is how the two teams get along. I say it's the wrong question. We are one team. We are not two teams. We are a single target, trying to achieve the same goal and sharing the same goal. I would like to thank Mr. COP31 President Murat Kurum for his cooperation. It was the highest level of support. Türkiye's role was with us as both a friend and partner. Afterwards, we will continue to work as a single team.
