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Turkish Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said there are high expectations for the 31st Conference of the Parties, or COP31, to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, which Türkiye will host this year.
Bayraktar made the remarks on the sidelines of the International Energy Agency Ministerial Meeting, which began Monday at the headquarters of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development in Paris and continues Tuesday.
As part of the meeting, Bayraktar held bilateral talks with ministers from several participating countries as well as with International Energy Agency President Fatih Birol.
“The International Energy Agency Ministerial Meeting is a very important meeting held every two years and is a multilateral platform with ministers from all member countries and other invited member countries,” Bayraktar told an Anadolu Agency correspondent.
He said Türkiye held intensive bilateral meetings with ministers from the United States, Germany, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland and Denmark, in addition to making several statements during the sessions.
Bayraktar said COP31 featured prominently in discussions with counterparts, including meetings with a European Union commissioner.
“As Türkiye, we have many items on our agenda, but one of the most important issues that attracts the interest of all countries is our COP31 hosting and presidency term. There are very high expectations from Türkiye in this regard,” he said.
“COP31 is one of the most important platforms in the world in the fight against climate change,” Bayraktar added.
He said participants asked what new contributions Türkiye would bring to the process and what priorities it would set.
“We stated that Türkiye will have certain regional focus topics in this area,” he said.
Bayraktar said discussions also focused on how countries can contribute collectively to the fight against climate change, noting that one of the key issues raised was the rapid increase in global electricity demand.
He said securing investment and financing is becoming increasingly challenging, particularly for developing economies.
“In particular, developing economies like ours are now facing a different challenge,” Bayraktar said. “In the past, only countries like ours had growing economies and increasing electricity demand. But now, with artificial intelligence and data centers, demand is increasing in developed countries as well, and financial resources are, in a sense, being divided.”
“In fact, we need to be able to access more financing,” he added.
Bayraktar also said supply chain challenges related to access to equipment were raised during the meeting.
“We also brought this issue to the agenda,” he said.
Emphasizing the importance of electricity grid development, Bayraktar said Türkiye has set “very serious targets” in this area.
In his address to the meeting, he stressed the need for strong international cooperation.
“We are going through a period in which we need to put ideologies or political views aside,” he said.
Bayraktar also highlighted the importance of stable policymaking.
“That is, policies that do not change from one administration to another,” he said. “In this sense, our country is able to attract investments thanks to political stability and policies that have been sustained for the past 23 years under the leadership of our President.”
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He said another issue emphasized was ensuring citizens are better informed and more involved in energy and climate transition processes.
“One thing that stands out is this: one of the outcomes of this meeting,” Bayraktar said. “It is held every two years, but it seems that there is a need for it to be held every year.”
He noted that IEA President Birol said such an option could be considered, adding that two years is a very short period in a rapidly changing global energy sector.
Bayraktar said Türkiye expects an intensive period of international engagement this year.
“I hope that this year, with our hosting of COP31, many of our international events will take place both in Türkiye and abroad, and we will enter a very intensive period in terms of our participation in these events,” he said.
In a separate statement posted on the US-based social media platform X, Bayraktar said he met with EU Energy and Housing Commissioner Dan Jorgensen in France.
“At a time when we are part of a regional and global transformation process, we want to strengthen our relations with concrete outcomes,” Bayraktar said.
He added that Türkiye views the deepening of energy cooperation with the European Union as highly important.
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