COP31 five days away: Gaza Hall and €5 billion green platform announced

The largest hall at the UN Climate Change Conference COP31, which Türkiye will host in Antalya from November 9 to 20, has been named Gaza. An investment platform worth more than €5 billion for industrial decarbonization will be unveiled, while the WHO has prepared a health initiative specifically for Antalya, warning that the climate crisis is also a health crisis.

As the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change's 31st Conference of the Parties (COP31), which Türkiye will host in Antalya from November 9 to 20, approaches, the summit's content is beginning to take shape. Türkiye's presidency will feature initiatives ranging from the names of the halls and industrial decarbonization to health and offshore wind energy. TRT Haber explained what the summit could bring to Türkiye with the question, "The world's eyes are on COP31."

The largest hall is named Gaza

The Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change announced that the halls at the summit venue had been given names inspired by Anatolia's ancient heritage and historical figures. The largest hall, with a capacity of 5,000 people in the public Green Zone, has been named "Gaza Hall" in line with Türkiye's sensitivity toward Palestine. The ministry emphasized that the hall conveys a message of peace and humanitarian solidarity.

The Blue Zone, where official negotiations will be held, includes the 1,794-seat "Anatolia" and 828-seat "Mediterranean" plenary halls, as well as "Antalya Hall." The press conference halls have been named after Mevlana and Yunus Emre. Twenty-six meeting rooms will bear names such as Göbeklitepe, Çatalhöyük, Ephesus, Zeugma, Cappadocia, Troy, Sumela, Pamukkale, Aspendos and Piri Reis. Halls in the Green Zone will preserve the names of figures including Ibn Sina, Al-Farabi, Al-Biruni, Aziz Sancar, Mehmet Akif Ersoy, Afet İnan and Fatma Aliye.

Plenary hall at the COP31 venue

According to ministry data, the 527,000-square-meter Blue Zone is expected to host approximately 100,000 visitors, while the 582,000-square-meter Green Zone is expected to welcome 1.5 million visitors. The Leaders' Summit will be held on November 11-12.

€5 billion decarbonization platform for industry

The Türkiye Industrial Decarbonization Investment Platform (TIDIP), jointly established by the Ministry of Industry and Technology, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), and the World Bank Group's IBRD and IFC, will be officially unveiled at COP31. Focusing on the iron and steel, aluminum, cement and fertilizer sectors, the platform aims to support more than €5 billion in investment by 2030 and achieve an annual reduction of 20 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions. It will receive $250 million from the Climate Investment Funds' Clean Technology Fund and €5.7 million from the EU's IPA III program. A signing ceremony is planned at COP31 for the European Investment Bank, Asian Development Bank and Islamic Development Bank to join the platform.

Minister of Industry and Technology Mehmet Fatih Kacır said they wanted to deepen cooperation to include international financial institutions, adding, "Our priority in the coming period is to further advance the accumulation we have built between Türkiye and the EU over 20 years."

WHO: Six measures could save 1.6 million lives annually

In a report published ahead of COP31, the World Health Organization (WHO) emphasized that the climate crisis is also a health crisis. According to the report, 3.3 to 3.6 billion people live in highly vulnerable conditions due to climate change, and more than 90 percent of deaths from climate-related disasters over the past 20 years occurred in developing countries. A second WHO report says six measures—including heat-health early warning systems, climate-resilient drinking water, basic sanitation, hygiene, clean household fuels and efficient pricing of fossil fuels—could save 1.6 million lives each year and help prevent 16.7 billion tons of carbon dioxide, equivalent to 31 percent of global emissions. The summit will also launch the "Antalya Health Resilience Initiative," a voluntary mechanism through which countries will share their climate-health experiences.

Cotton harvest in southeastern Anatolia

Offshore wind with the Netherlands, GAP cotton on the world stage

Netherlands Ambassador to Ankara Alle Dorhout said the two countries were working on a declaration of intent to cooperate on offshore wind energy and that COP31 could bring more Dutch financing and technology to Türkiye. Of Türkiye's target of 120 GW of installed wind and solar capacity by 2035, 5 GW is allocated to offshore wind. The "Good Cotton Project," carried out by the Southeastern Anatolia Project Regional Development Administration with the UNDP, will also be presented at COP31. According to GAP RDA President Hasan Maral, the model, implemented by more than 2,100 producers across more than 500,000 decares, has achieved 30 percent savings in fertilizer use and 45 percent savings in irrigation, while increasing yields by 20 percent.

Information about the COP31 program, events and participation is available on the conference's official website at cop31.tr.

Video: TRT Haber. Photos: AA

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