Minister Kurum: COP is an organization that can be considered equivalent to the UN Summit.

Detailing Turkey's approach to the Implementation COP, Minister Kurum said, "Unfortunately, the world today is far from that 1.5 degree target. Floods, fires and rains continue to increase in severity and frequency. Unfortunately, they now leave very important scars and deep wounds on the economies of the countries. That is why we will demonstrate our sincerity and experience in this struggle and we want to say; okay, what has been talked about has been talked about, but now we need to put them into practice. Let's not talk about commitments anymore. We do not want new commitments. We want to put those commitments into practice. Because young people, children, the world expects this from us. O "That's why we have carried out a presidential process that will demonstrate this will from the first day, and we will have this stance and this determination until the end."

COP31 President Kurum pointed out that the fight against climate change is possible with the logic of NATO's defense investments and financial support:

"There is an issue of existence or extinction here. There is an issue of countries benefiting from this transformation and increasing their production and employment. At this point, we want to draw the whole world's attention to Antalya. We have to make these decisions. We have to make these decisions for our future, for our children. If countries decide to increase their defense expenditures to 5 percent at a NATO meeting, the whole world has to show the same determination in the fight against climate. Because there will be no world left to live in. What happens if you defend your borders after there is no world left to live in? I mean, your water supply "What if you had a building where Europe lives today, where there is no greenery or where you cannot sit in that historical building? Or how will you solve this when you encounter other crises due to climate migration?"

Emphasizing that COP31 is a meeting as important as the UN General Assembly, Minister Kurum said that all issues concerning the world regarding climate are discussed in these meetings:

"This summit is currently the largest summit attended by 196 countries when you look at the whole world. 196 countries share their climate-related commitments, projects, goals and experiences. The commitments made by the countries are questioned there. Negotiations are held for days. Therefore, this is the largest organization at the UN. In other words, it is an organization that can be equal to the United Nations Summit in New York. What will we achieve? As the COP31 Presidency, we act on behalf of 196 countries. Here, we are transparent, "We said that we will carry out a fair and just presidential process and that we will get results at COP31, and we want to get results. That's why we expressed to the whole world in three words that we will act with dialogue and consensus, but we will also get results with action."

Minister Kurum responded to the question "What strategy does COP31 follow to reduce its carbon footprint?" He answered the question as follows:

"We are even considering the emissions of the guests coming with Turkish Airlines. In other words, we want it to be a zero-emission organization. In this context, this is the COP organization that was the first to receive the certificate, the sustainability certificate. We received this document when we went to Antalya yesterday, and it is the first such document in the history of COP. The transfer vehicles and transportation vehicles here again comply with Euro 6 standards. People will participate in these participations with both electric and natural gas vehicles. We sent new vehicles here. Vehicles from other municipalities from all over Türkiye are also in Antalya Metropolitan Municipality." "We sent it to our municipality. 650 new vehicles have arrived and they are all low-emission vehicles. In other words, we have achieved this sustainability, from the organization in the hotel to the detail in transportation."

Source: TRT Haber Açık RSS (Gündem) (Open Press / Translated Full Text)