COP31 President and Minister of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change Murat Kurum spoke at the Istanbul Climate Finance Summit, held at the Istanbul Finance Center under the theme “From the COP31 Vision to Financing Climate Action.” Kurum said the intensifying effects of climate change were increasing pressure on countries.
Noting that rising temperatures in Nepal and China had demonstrated the painful consequences of climate change, Kurum said they would keep climate justice and finance among their priorities. He said finance was the main instrument for turning a goal into implementation, a plan into investment and a decision into results.
He highlighted the global financing gap
Kurum said global climate finance needs stood at $7.5 trillion-$9 trillion, while current financing remained at approximately $1.9 trillion. He said conditions around the world required the financial sector to participate more strongly in the climate process.
Describing climate action and green transformation as among the major markets of the future, Kurum said those who invested early in this transformation would gain earlier access to new business areas, sources of finance and growing markets. He said some traditional sectors would contract, while clean and sustainable investments would retain their importance in the economy.
Climate Implementation Bridge being established
Kurum announced that the COP31 Presidency had established the Climate Implementation Bridge, saying the mechanism aimed to close the gap between countries’ nationally announced climate targets and their implementation. The bridge is intended to bring together countries in need and organizations offering financing and solutions.
Referring to the partnership with the United Nations Development Programme, Kurum said a joint declaration had been issued under the bridge. He said they aimed to transform countries’ climate and development priorities into concrete project portfolios eligible for financing.
Sustainable urban investments on the agenda
Kurum identified the Sustainable Urban Resilience Financing Facility (SURFF) as one of the Climate Implementation Bridge’s initiatives and stressed that it was not a new fund. He said the initiative, developed by İLBANK, the Climate Change Directorate and the COP31 Presidency, would address financing, project-preparation capacity and implementation together.
SURFF aims to strengthen local governments’ capacity to develop projects and turn cities’ needs into investments ready for financing. Referring to projects related to the mucilage problem in Istanbul, Kurum said they had been prepared rapidly and announced that efforts to address the issue through treatment plants would continue in cities along the Sea of Marmara.
Kurum also said that, under a strategic cooperation framework with the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, a €400 million investment package was being targeted for the Marmara Region, particularly for advanced biological wastewater treatment plants. He said the aim was to turn these efforts into a model that could be implemented in different countries and cities.
2035 targets for COP31
Explaining the COP31 Presidency’s approach at a meeting with international media representatives in Istanbul, Kurum said they had built the process around three main pillars: dialogue, consensus and action. He said they wanted COP31 to be an implementation-focused meeting where decisions became projects and investments produced results that affected people’s lives.
Kurum said the action agenda was based on 10 key areas, including clean energy, zero waste, electrification, resilient cities, green industry, youth and food. He announced that they were targeting six major global breakthroughs by 2035, including raising electrification’s global share to 35 percent, reducing global waste growth by 50 percent, cutting energy consumption in buildings by 25 percent and increasing the use of circular materials in industry to 15 percent.
Stating that they wanted to lead the COP31 process in Antalya by listening to all parties, taking different development conditions into account and accelerating implementation, Kurum said they aimed for the meeting to be known as an “implementation-focused COP.”
Social housing project in Istanbul
Responding to questions from journalists, Kurum announced that they aimed to deliver part of the 15,000-unit rental housing project in Istanbul during September. He said the project’s final terms would be submitted to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and that the conditions for handing over the homes would be announced to the public later.
Kurum said climate finance should not be viewed solely as a cost item, describing such investments as strategic investments intended to prevent future economic and social losses. He said the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Türkiye had been assigned to represent the business community in order to leverage the private sector’s investment capacity.
Kurum said the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Türkiye would host the Business Summit on November 12-13, concurrently with the Leaders’ Summit and Finance Day, bringing financial institutions, investors, companies and project owners together on the same platform. The program also included Deputy Minister of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change Fatma Varank and Samed Ağırbaş, President of the Zero Waste Foundation and COP31 High-Level Climate Champion.
