Erdoğan spoke at the COP31 Leaders Summit: 'We have two options before us'

AKP Chairman and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said, "We have two options before us. We will either look at the difficulties and complain, or we will embrace hope and take action. We preferred to light candles instead of shaking our fists at the darkness. As Turkey, we assumed the COP31 presidency with this understanding."

Erdoğan spoke at the opening meeting of the 31st Conference of the Parties (COP31) Leaders Summit of the United Nations (UN) Framework Convention on Climate Change, held in Antalya.

Thanking UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres for their support to the conference, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese for the unique partnership model they developed for COP31, and Brazil and Azerbaijan for sharing with them the experiences they gained from their previous COP presidencies, Erdoğan said:

"As Turkey, we are proud to host the COP Leaders Summit for the first time. We designed COP31 to reflect the richness of Anatolia in terms of both work and activity areas, scope and content. We named the halls in the blue and green zones after the great figures in our history, the unique beauties of our cultural heritage, and our natural assets. From Peace Island to Zero Waste Villages, from exhibitions and panels to open-air events, from interviews to film shows, application workshops and live performances. We made a special effort to ensure that the conference was as productive as possible.

We minimized the impact of COP31 on the environment by implementing low-emission transportation, zero waste, water and energy efficiency and carbon balancing practices in a holistic manner. We hope to present the awards of the short film competition we organized with the theme 'The World is Our Common Home' on November 14. Today, I once again congratulate all our institutions and everyone who contributed to COP31, which we hope will be successful in every aspect. I hope that the conference will be a new turning point in the fight against the climate crisis. I sincerely believe that we will achieve this, hopefully with your support."

"AS HUMANITY, OUR HOUSE HAS ONLY ONE ROOF; THAT IS THE SKY"

Emphasizing that environmental awareness is one of the common sensitivities of all ancient civilizations, all deep-rooted cultures and all religions, Erdoğan said:

"As humanity, our house has only one roof. That is the sky. As humanity, our house has only one garden. That is the earth. I would like to say openly that we do not have another sky, another earth, seas, oceans or forests. However, today, humanity is perhaps experiencing one of the deepest existential crises in its history, under the influence of excessive consumption ambition.

We are facing serious problems, from global warming to the extinction of biodiversity, from excessive consumption of natural resources to endangering food security, from ecological destruction to sudden and devastating climate events. We all know very well that a burning forest, a drying river, a polluted sea, or a tree being cut down hurts the entire planet. "From the Mediterranean Basin to Africa, from Asia to the small island states of the Pacific, no country is free from this."

"WE WILL EITHER COMPLAIN OR WE WILL TAKE ACTION"

President Erdoğan stated that a significant progress has been made since the first COP meeting held in Berlin 31 years ago, and that the numerous decisions they have taken have included the idea of combating climate change on the agenda of all humanity.

Stating that this success on an intellectual basis did not yield the same result in practice, Erdoğan continued as follows:

"However, every minute that we do not achieve the targets set in the Paris Agreement, the risks and costs we face increase. We have two options before us. We will either look at the difficulties and complain, or we will embrace hope and take action. We preferred to light candles instead of shaking our fists at the darkness. As Turkey, we assumed the COP31 Presidency with exactly this understanding.

We aimed for the conference to be an implementation COP to serve as an example for subsequent organizations. I believe that Australia, which acts with the same determination as us, will make a significant difference in this regard with the unique partnership we have established. "The successful cooperation of two countries, which are thousands of kilometers away from each other, will bring a new breath to the fight against climate change."