Climateupdated 20m ago3 min read
Archive photo · 26 January 2024Erdoğan’s COP31 Gaza and Climate Messages Praised by Leaders, Presidency Says
6 West Asian3 Western Mainstream1 OtherPhoto: Rory Arnold / No 10 Downing Street, CC BY 2.0 · Cropped for layout
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Several leaders praised Erdogan’s COP31 remarks on climate justice and Gaza genocide/ecocide. Erdogan framed Gaza war as genocide and ecocide during COP31, calling for aid access.
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COP31, Gaza and climate justice
Turkish presidency communications director Barhanadin Duran said President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s COP-31 speech drew broad attention and was praised by leaders of states, with the presidents Erdogan met thanking him for “the first being climate justice” and “the second his strong message about the genocide in Gaza.” Duran said Erdoğan’s call to protect the shared skies and lands was not directed only at Turkey or the region, but to the entire world, and he added that leaders also discussed Erdoğan’s talk about Israel uprooting olive trees in Palestine as an “environmental massacre.” Duran said these statements upset the Israeli side, and he quoted him as saying “this “is not important,” because Erdoğan continues to defend Gaza and the Palestinian cause at all forums as the “voice of humanity.”
Erdoğan’s COP31 framing also emphasized that some developing countries bear greater burdens, Duran said, because they must continue development while needing financing and technology to combat climate change, making justice in the distribution of responsibilities and resources crucial. An Anadolu report said COP-31 opened last Monday and runs until November 20, with international delegations participating to discuss climate change and climate finance.
Turkey’s COP image and deals
Reuters reported that the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank agreed a record $1.6 billion financing deal with COP31 host Turkey to support policy reforms aimed at attracting investment to hit its climate goals. Reuters said Turkey will need an estimated $68 billion in additional climate investment by 2030, around half from private sources, and it described the agreement as supporting implementation of Turkey’s Climate Law and a plan to cut planet-warming emissions including an interim target for 2035 and net zero by 2053. Reuters quoted AIIB Chief Investment Officer Konstantin Limitovskiy saying, “This financing represents AIIB's largest climate policy-based financing package to date,” and it said the money would help scale sustainable finance, accelerate decarbonisation and boost climate resilience efforts across the country of 86 million people.
WELT described COP31’s host Turkey as buying more than 100 electric buses for the conference site, setting up trash bins for different types of waste, and imposing a smoking ban, while it said cigarette butts lay in the alleys between the conference containers. A Turkish COP helper told WELT, “We wanted to look clean, at least for two weeks,” as he pointed to a bin for glass, metal, and cans that was overflowing with packaging, banana peels, and plastic.
Implementation pressure and war impacts
Erdoğan told leaders at COP31 that political commitments announced at the summit in Antalya were “a source of motivation for the work to be carried out under the Paris Agreement,” and he urged leaders to advance implementation efforts while making the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius attainable. Erdoğan said high-level events on the sidelines provided extensive discussions on electrification, green manufacturing, resilience, zero waste, and climate finance, and he added that “The natural disasters we have recently witnessed, with loss of life and destruction of livelihoods” reveal the urgent humanitarian need for the work. Erdogan also said COP31 stressed enabling access to financing for the most in-need groups, and the COP31 Leaders Summit continued in Antalya through November 20, according to the same statement.
Enlace Judío reported that Erdoğan used the UN Climate Summit to call the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza both a “genocide” and an “ecocide,” and it said Jerusalem rejected the accusation categorically. Enlace Judío quoted Israel’s Foreign Ministry response as: “Once again, dictator Erdogan uses an international forum to push his campaign of lies against Israel,” while it also said Israel reminded that Turkey hosts Hamas leaders and pointed to the terrorist group as the sole responsible for devastation in Gaza after the war began on October 7.