Climateupdated 22m ago2 min read
Archive photo · 1 December 2023Turkey Excludes Israel From COP31 Leaders Summit, Links Move to Gaza War
“It’s a hypocrisy every year that the host countries are given an opportunity to whitewash themselves”
“Delegates, meeting in the Mediterranean resort city of Antalya, will come under pressure to develop new pledges for climate action”
Photo: Ktpkurdu, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Cropped for layout
This article is an automated aggregation of coverage from news outlets. Our editorials offer in-depth analysis curated by the NewsCord team.
Turkey did not invite the Israeli government to COP31 Leaders Summit over Gaza war stance. COP31 is held in Antalya, Turkey, co-hosted by Turkey and Australia.
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COP31 and Gaza
Turkey announced it would not invite the Israeli government to participate in the Leaders Summit of COP31 in Antalya, and Turkish Minister of Environment, Urban Planning and Climate Change and COP31 chairman Murat Kurum linked the decision to Turkey’s stance on the war in Gaza. Kurum told the Turkish channel NTV that Turkey would not remain silent about what he described as genocide in Gaza, saying, "Justice for the climate cannot be achieved in a place lacking peace."
Kurum also said Turkey named one of COP31’s major halls "Gaza," which can accommodate 6,250 people, and he said the hall would host art exhibitions by children from the Gaza Strip and works by Palestinian artists addressing the war and the suffering of Palestinians. Kurum clarified that the non-invitation pertains to the Leaders Summit, while he said all other countries participating in negotiations and UN-hosted events under the applicable rules have the right to participate.
Thunberg and Guterres
Greta Thunberg arrived at COP31 in Antalya and condemned the annual proceedings as hypocritical and “full of lobby groups,” urging leaders to put people and the planet ahead of profits and power. Thunberg said, "It's a recurring hypocrisy every year, as host countries are given a chance to polish their image," and she added that the negotiations were filled with lobbying groups funded by industries that benefit from the status quo of violent capitalism.
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres told dozens of world leaders gathered at a large exhibition center in Antalya that "the interests of fossil fuels continue to reap enormous profits while they keep killing our planet," and he urged governments to impose taxes on the sudden profits of oil companies. Guterres also said, "Fossil fuels must meet the fate of the dinosaurs, but that won’t happen by itself," and he added that dinosaurs did not have a lobby, but fossil fuels do.
Leaders, electricity, and deadlines
World leaders began formal discussions at COP31 in Turkey, with the conference hosted by the Turkish city of Antalya for two weeks and with negotiations continuing through November 20. News coverage of the leaders’ summit emphasized absences, with Newsday saying the heads of top climate polluters China, the U.S. and India were not scheduled to be present, and it quoted Mohamed Adow saying, "The world’s biggest economies should be leading the response to the climate crisis, not leaving it to others."
“The U.N. talks in Antalya run until Nov. 20.”
Turkey pressed for a non-binding target called "35 by 35" to be a focal point in the final agreement, and France 24 described Turkey’s push to launch an "Era of Electricity" as part of the summit’s axes. The conference’s agenda also tied the electricity push to a target of raising the share of electricity in total global energy consumption to 35 percent by 2035, and Newsday said the talks were expected to agree on concrete actions to curb global warming after a year of deadly floods and heat waves.