Turkey wants COP31 climate summit to be "a conference of implementation" of decisions

Turkey, which will chair the upcoming global climate conference COP31 - the UN Climate Change Conference, scheduled for November in Antalya, aims for the meeting to mark the transition from promises to the concrete implementation of climate decisions, informs AFP. Turkish Environment Minister Murat Kurum said the summit must become "a COP of implementation", in the context in which many of the commitments made in the framework of global climate negotiations remain insufficiently implemented. "We constantly make decisions during COP meetings, but there are still important gaps in their implementation. We want these decisions to be effectively put into practice when we organize the event," said the Turkish official, quoted by AFP.

• A summit shared between Turkey and Australia

The Turkish minister made these statements at a press conference held in Istanbul, together with the Executive Director of the International Energy Agency (IEA), Fatih Birol. The organization of COP31 has an unusual format, being shared between Turkey and Australia. According to Murat Kurum, Turkey will hold the political presidency of the summit, while Australia will manage the organization of the technical negotiations. "This is not a co-presidency. Turkey is the president and organizes the presidency, and Australia organizes the negotiations," the minister stressed. He added that no decision could be adopted without Ankara's agreement, as the presidency of the conference sets the agenda and leads the negotiation process.

• Increase in global electricity demand

At the same conference, Fatih Birol drew attention to the rapid growth in global electricity demand, fueled by the expansion of electric mobility, the increasing use of air conditioning and the digitalization of the economy. "Electricity demand is growing twice as fast as total global energy demand,” said the IEA director. In this context, he stressed that nuclear energy will play a key role in the energy transition, as it can provide constant electricity, unlike weather-dependent renewable sources. "Renewables are important, but nuclear energy is indispensable,” said Fatih Birol.

• The return of nuclear energy

According to the IEA chief, the nuclear sector is going through a period of global revival, with many new power plant projects under construction. Currently, nuclear power plants with a total capacity of about 70 gigawatts are being built, which would represent the largest volume of nuclear power built in the last four decades. Fatih Birol, however, avoided commenting on the situation of the oil market, which is affected by major disruptions caused by the blocking of maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, in the context of the conflict between Iran and the United States. According to the International Energy Agency, this situation represents one of the most significant disruptions to global oil supplies in history.

• Challenging the global consensus

Regarding the climate negotiations, the Turkish minister recalled that decisions adopted at the COP must be approved by consensus of all participating states, which makes the negotiation process extremely complex. "We will have to convince every country to rally to the consensus, but if a single country opposes it, then we cannot adopt a resolution,” said Murat Kurum.