COP31 President and Minister of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change Murat Kurum announced the COP31 Presidency's Strategic Partnership with the OECD at the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Council Meeting held in Paris.
COP31 President and Minister of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change Murat Kurum attended the OECD Council Meeting and COP31 Strategic Partnership Event at the OECD headquarters in Paris. COP31 President Institution gave information about the Action Agenda and priorities of the COP31 Presidency in the program attended by OECD Secretary General Mathias Cormann, ambassadors of OECD member countries and permanent representatives at the OECD. Announcing that the COP31 Presidency and the OECD are Strategic Partners, COP31 President Kurum said, "I believe that the OECD's expertise in the field of economics, reliable data analysis and international comparison capacity will make significant contributions to this process. Reliable and comparable OECD data provide a road map that makes it possible to identify needs accurately, reduce access to finance and inequalities in this access, and create a higher climate impact with limited resources. As the COP Presidency, we will benefit from this power of the OECD for the future of all humanity and the well-being of our common home, the world." "We want it," he said.
"NOW WE SHOULD TALK ABOUT HOW TO REACH THE GOAL"
"The hours of climate diplomacy were set according to a common goal in Paris. Our duty in the new period is to establish a strong implementation order," said Minister Kurum, and explained the 'dialogue, consensus, action' approach put forward by the COP31 Presidency towards implementation. Stating that Türkiye is the Presidency and host of COP31 and Australia is the chairman of the negotiation process, Minister Kurum underlined that the preparations for the action agenda were shared with the public at important meetings in Ankara, Istanbul, Hatay, Bonn, London and Trabzon on the way to COP31. Minister Kurum said, "All these studies have shown us the same truth; we need to move the center of gravity of climate diplomacy from targets to implementation. In other words, the targets have been determined sufficiently. Now we need to fully implement them. We now have to talk about how we will achieve that target as well as which target we will achieve. We must reveal which policy we will proceed with, how we will mobilize investment, how we will finance it and how we will measure the results."
"WE DETERMINED 10 PRIORITY TITLES AND THEMES FROM WHICH WE CAN GET RESULTS"
Explaining the 10 priority themes of the COP31 Presidency, including clean energy transformation and electrification, Zero Waste and methane reduction, climate resilient cities, green industrialization, youth and education, food security, oceans and seas, dynamic and resilient health systems, Rio Synergies and Climate Implementation Bridge, Minister Kurum said: "We have identified 10 priority topics and themes from which we can get results in line with the decisions taken so far. We see financing, technology and capacity development as common elements that cut across all of these areas. In other words, achieving these goals "Financing, technology and capacity building of developing countries are very valuable in this sense," he said.
"WE WILL SHOW TO THE WHOLE WORLD THAT WE TAKE ACTION WITH OUR IMPLEMENTATION GOALS"
Minister Kurum, within the scope of the 2035 Implementation Targets of the COP31 Presidency, will increase the global electrification rate to 35 percent by 2035, reduce the increase in waste production by half by 2035, reduce the energy use intensity in the building sector by at least 25 percent by 2035, increase the rate of circular material use in the production and manufacturing sector to at least 15 percent by 2035, and reduce the climate change by 2035. He detailed one by one the topics of completing training on resilient agricultural practices and combating climate change in all segments of society, and finally, disseminating the Climate Implementation Bridge Mechanism, which will support investable project portfolios, by 2035.
Pointing out that these targets are concrete and applicable targets, Minister Kurum said, "These targets are actually our 1.5 degree target, a strategy put forward in line with our determination. And with the realization of these targets, we will achieve a concrete result. What will we achieve? We will reduce emissions. The realization of the targets on the action agenda until 2035 will actually reveal our determination in our 1.5 degree target. From now on, we will be showing the whole world together that we are taking action without talking, and we will get results."
"WE ARE BRINGING OECD'S ANALYSIS CAPACITY TOGETHER WITH COP31'S IMPLEMENTATION AGENDA"
He cited as an example the Sustainable Urban Resilience Financing Facility (SURFF) approach, which was implemented by Türkiye in line with the Climate Implementation Bridge target, and which gathers local governments' access to policy, project preparation, institutional capacity and financing in the same process. Minister Kurum said, "Our strategic partnership with the OECD gains meaning at this point. We are bringing together the OECD's data and economic analysis capacity, policy experience and international comparison tools with the implementation agenda of COP 31. Our goal is to produce concrete outputs by Antalya. In other words, today the OECD's data is based on science accepted by the whole world. In fact, we will be using this knowledge we have gained through science for the whole world."
"THE CLIMATE ISSUE IS NOW A SECURITY ISSUE"
Pointing out that countries should now perceive the climate crisis as a serious threat to the future, just like wars and conflicts, Minister Kurum said:
"We think that the financing issue should be addressed very seriously. The world is redefining the understanding of security. Some of the countries we are in, including NATO countries, are on the verge of a historical transformation that will increase their defense investments to 5 percent of their national income. This means that the world does not hesitate to allocate resources when it comes to future threats. So, is there a more real, closer, more certain threat than the climate crisis? Why don't we take action in the face of this situation? We think that we should approach climate security with the same strategic seriousness and resource mobilization on the same scale. Because We know that if there is no livable world left, every penny we spend to defend that world is not just about protecting the borders, it is about building a future that we can live and breathe within the borders and that we can leave to our children. Security is not only a military issue, but also a climate, economic and social issue. It cannot be postponed, postponed or put on the back burner. In your eyes, I support all OECD countries and the whole world with clean energy. "We invite you to allocate resources to electrification, water security, resilient cities and green industry. We have an important diplomatic calendar ahead of us, extending to Antalya. This call will be a call that we will say and emphasize on every platform."
