Türkiye began hosting a four-day climate-focused media tour for foreign journalists on Tuesday, October 13, less than a month before the country hosts the United Nations climate conference COP31 in the Mediterranean resort city of Antalya.
The programme, running from October 13 to 16, brings 20 journalists from 15 countries to Istanbul and the southwestern province of Muğla. It is organised by the Presidency's Communications Directorate together with the Ministry of Environment, Urbanisation and Climate Change, and is the fourth in a series of tours designed to introduce international media to Turkish environmental policies and projects.
Shipbuilding, energy and zero waste
In Istanbul, the journalists are scheduled to receive a briefing from the Turkish Shipbuilders' Association on electric tugboats, and to visit Energy Exchange Istanbul (EPİAŞ) to hear about efforts to increase the share of renewables in electricity generation and consumption.
The group will also visit the Zero Waste Foundation, which runs the Zero Waste Project launched under the patronage of First Lady Emine Erdoğan. The initiative, which promotes recycling and waste reduction in public institutions and households, has become one of the government's flagship environmental programmes and is expected to feature prominently during the summit.
Protecting seagrass in Fethiye and Göcek
In Muğla, the tour will travel to the bays of Fethiye and Göcek, popular sailing destinations on the Turquoise Coast. There, the journalists will observe the Turkish Environment Agency's Mooring Buoy Project, which installs fixed moorings so that boats do not drop anchor on seagrass meadows and other fragile seabed habitats.
Seagrass beds, particularly Posidonia oceanica in the Mediterranean, store carbon and shelter marine life, but are easily damaged by anchors dragged across the sea floor during the busy yachting season.
COP31 is scheduled to take place in Antalya from November 9 to 20. Hosting the summit is a high-profile diplomatic undertaking for Ankara, which ratified the Paris Agreement in 2021 and has set a target of net-zero emissions by 2053. Ahead of the conference, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has emphasised food security and reducing food waste as themes Türkiye wants to highlight.
Sources
- Türkiye hosts climate media tour ahead of COP31
- Erdoğan stresses food security, waste reduction ahead of COP31
Photo: Esginmurat / CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
