President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan opened the leaders’ summit of the COP31 UN climate conference in Antalya on Wednesday, 11 November, telling world leaders that humanity faces one of the deepest consumption crises in its history, CNBC-e, A Haber and Habertürk reported. It is the first time Türkiye has hosted a COP leaders’ summit, according to CNBC-e and TGRT Haber.
About 102 leaders from 95 countries were expected at the two-day summit, held in the Anadolu plenary hall of the conference’s Blue Zone, NTV and Anadolu Agency (AA) reported before the opening.
Erdoğan: ‘either we complain or we act’
Erdoğan said humanity has no other sky, earth, forests or oceans, CNBC-e, A Haber and Habertürk reported. He said that much had been achieved since the first COP 31 years ago, but that the goals of the Paris Agreement were not being met and risks were growing as a result, according to CNBC-e and A Haber.
He described the choice facing governments as two options, to complain or to take action, A Haber, CNBC-e and İstiklal reported. He said Türkiye’s presidency aims to make COP31 an "implementation COP", built on the Paris Agreement, according to A Haber and İstiklal.
Erdoğan thanked the UN Secretary-General for his support, and Brazil and Azerbaijan, the two previous COP hosts, for sharing their experience, A Haber and İstiklal reported.
On Türkiye’s own record, he said the national recycling rate had risen from about 13 percent in 2017, when the government’s Zero Waste (Sıfır Atık) movement began, to nearly 40 percent by the end of 2025, AA and CNBC-e reported. He also referred to 11 November, which Türkiye marks as National Afforestation Day, and said every drop of water was being protected, according to A Haber and İstiklal.
A summit designed to reflect Anatolia
Erdoğan said the venues and content of COP31 had been designed to reflect Anatolia, with halls in the Blue and Green zones named after historical figures, cultural heritage and natural landmarks, CNBC-e and TGRT Haber reported. Low-emission transport, zero waste, water and energy efficiency and carbon offsetting were being applied together to limit the conference’s environmental footprint, he said, according to both outlets.
The programme includes a Peace Island, zero-waste villages, exhibitions, panels and film screenings, and the winners of a short film competition on the theme "Our common home, Earth" will receive their awards on 14 November, CNBC-e and TGRT Haber reported.
Guterres: ‘fossil fuels must go the way of the dinosaurs’
UN Secretary-General António Guterres told the summit that the "brutal truth" was that the climate crisis was outrunning the world, Reuters and the German agency dpa reported. He said science was not telling governments to give up but to fight harder, according to both agencies.
Guterres urged a faster move to clean energy and said fossil fuels "must go the way of the dinosaurs", Reuters (as carried by Daily Sabah and Middle East Eye) and dpa reported.
The Turkish presidency is asking countries to raise electricity’s share of global energy use to 35 percent by 2035, up from a little over a fifth today, Reuters reported, a target the COP31 President, Environment Minister Murat Kurum, set out when the conference opened on Monday. Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen were among the leaders due to speak later, according to Reuters and Climate Home News.
For the start of the conference, see our report on the COP31 opening and the electrification pledge. Road restrictions around the venue and Antalya airport remain in place until Friday; see the COP31 traffic measures, and our guide to living in Antalya.
Sources
- Cumhurbaşkanı Erdoğan’dan COP31’de iklim mesajı: "İnsanlık derin bir tüketim krizi yaşıyor" (CNBC-e)
- Başkan Erdoğan’dan COP31 Liderler Zirvesi’nde önemli açıklamalar (A Haber)
- Cumhurbaşkanı Erdoğan COP31 Liderler Zirvesi’nde konuşuyor (TGRT Haber)
- Son dakika: Cumhurbaşkanı Erdoğan’dan açıklamalar (Habertürk)
- Cumhurbaşkanı Erdoğan’dan açıklamalar (İstiklal)
- Cumhurbaşkanı Erdoğan: Ulusal geri kazanım oranımız 2025 yıl sonu itibarıyla yüzde 40’a yaklaştı (En Son Dakika / AA)
- Dünyanın gözü COP31 Zirvesi’nde (NTV)
- COP31 Liderler Zirvesi başlıyor (AA)
- UN chief warns world on path to destruction at COP31 (Cyprus Mail / Reuters)
- UN chief urges immediate action at COP31 to reverse climate crisis (Daily Sabah / Reuters)
- UN Secretary-General: Fossil fuels must go the way of the dinosaurs (bluewin / dpa)
- UN chief tells Turkey climate summit: ‘This is the path to mutually assured destruction’ (Middle East Eye)
- COP31 Bulletin Day 3: With the people stuck outside, world leaders jet in (Climate Home News)
Photo: Dosseman / CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
