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As Türkiye prepares to host the 31st United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP31) in 2026, officials say the country’s focus goes beyond organization and diplomacy to building lasting climate awareness nationwide.
Orhan Solak, deputy director of the Directorate of Climate Change (DCC), said Türkiye aims to turn international climate commitments into national policies and local action, stressing that this has become a strategic necessity.
Solak was speaking at the “Awareness Raising Conference on Climate Action in Türkiye After COP30,” held in Istanbul as part of the EU-funded Partnership for Local Climate Action Project in Türkiye.
The project is implemented by the U.N. Development Program (UNDP) Türkiye, with the DCC as the final beneficiary.
He underlined the need to accelerate the implementation of Türkiye’s Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) to keep the global temperature target of 1.5 degrees Celsius within reach.
Türkiye is currently finalizing an updated and more ambitious NDC, including a 2030 emissions reduction target and a long-term low-emission development strategy extending to 2053.
Solak said the updated framework places stronger emphasis on renewable energy, energy efficiency, a just transition in coal-dependent regions and nature-based solutions.
He noted that climate change is increasingly visible in daily life through extreme heat, prolonged droughts, flash floods, water stress, forest fires and rising disaster risks.
Citing World Meteorological Organization data, Solak said 2024 was the hottest year on record, with global temperatures exceeding 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels for the first time over a full calendar year.
Solak said COP31, with the Leaders’ Summit set to take place in Istanbul and the main conference hosted in Antalya, will be a critical stage for translating outcomes from COP30 into concrete results.
He said the conference will focus on making adaptation targets measurable and country-specific, improving transparency and accessibility in climate finance, and ensuring that just transition policies protect vulnerable groups.
Solak recalled that climate finance was a central issue at COP30 in Brazil, where the Baku-to-Belem Roadmap raised the annual climate finance mobilization target to $1.3 trillion by 2035 and introduced global adaptation indicators and a just transition mechanism.
Hosting COP31, Solak said, demonstrates Türkiye’s organizational capacity while reinforcing its role in climate diplomacy, consensus-building and implementation.
“On the road to COP31, we are not limited to technical and diplomatic preparations; we want to build permanent institutional and societal awareness that reaches every corner of the country,” he said.
The conference was attended by UNDP Türkiye Resident Representative Monica Merino, EU Delegation to Türkiye Head of Financial Cooperation Maria Luisa Wyganowski, ambassadors, civil society representatives and academics.
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