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Türkiye's Treasury and Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek unveiled plans on Thursday for the COP31 Climate Implementation Bridge, an initiative aimed at unlocking green investment by helping countries turn climate plans into bankable projects.
Speaking at the Climate Resilience Finance Summit during London Climate Action Week, Simsek outlined the proposal as one of Türkiye's flagship initiatives for COP31, which the country will host later this year. The initiative seeks to bridge the gap between governments seeking climate finance and investors looking for commercially viable projects.
"Our priority at COP31 is clear. We now need to speed up the implementation of these plans," he said. "The key is financing. We must mobilize sufficient capital in time and direct it toward investments that deliver tangible results for people."
The Climate Implementation Bridge is designed to help governments convert climate strategies into investment-ready projects while creating pipelines that can attract financing from banks and private investors.
"Our goal is not to establish a new platform or institution," Simsek said. "We want to strengthen cooperation within the existing ecosystem and ensure that financing reaches the areas where it is needed most."
The minister argued that climate resilience is no longer only an environmental issue but an economic necessity as climate-related disasters become more frequent and costly. He noted that only one-quarter of climate-related losses worldwide are insured, leaving governments, businesses, and households to absorb the remaining costs.
Pointing to Türkiye's experience, Simsek recalled that severe agricultural frost last year, followed by drought, affected the livelihoods of millions of people.
"I'm not offering this as an excuse, but inflation came in slightly higher than we had projected, largely because of these shocks," he remarked. "Economies that are better prepared for shocks are more productive, more competitive and more attractive for investment."
He added that investments in water management, climate-smart agriculture, sustainable land use, resilient infrastructure, and healthy ecosystems are essential to building stronger and more competitive economies.
Despite growing demand for climate action, resilience remains one of the least-funded areas of climate policy, Simsek noted. He pointed to estimates showing that achieving global climate goals will require annual investments of $6.3 trillion to $6.7 trillion by 2030, while current climate finance stands at about $2 trillion.
In developing countries, excluding China, annual financing needs total roughly $2.4 trillion, yet only around one-tenth of that amount is currently available.
"The problem is not a shortage of capital," he said. "Many projects struggle to secure financing because they are not sufficiently prepared, while significant pools of capital are searching for attractive returns."
Simsek called for broader international cooperation, arguing that while multilateral development banks have a key role to play, export credit agencies, regulators, credit rating agencies and local financial institutions must also help mobilize long-term investment.
Türkiye is ready to work with international partners through COP31 to expand financing for climate resilience and accelerate implementation of climate projects, he added.
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