Climateupdated 30m ago3 min read
Archive photo · 26 May 2026Özgür Özel Says COP31 Must Deliver Measurable Paris Agreement Action in Antalya
5 Other1 Latin American1 Western Alternative1 Western MainstreamPhoto: Koray, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Cropped for layout
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Özgür Özel is leader of Turkey's main opposition New Party and MP from Manisa. COP31 will be held in Antalya, Turkey, November 9–20, 2026.
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COP31, Antalya, and delivery
Özgür Özel, leader of Turkey's main opposition “New Party” and a member of parliament from Manisa, said the world is running out of time to deliver on the Paris Agreement as governments and their leaders gather in Antalya for COP31, ten years after the Paris Agreement took effect. The UN Environment Programme’s latest Emissions Gap Report concluded that the chance of keeping warming below 1.5C without overshooting it is gone, and the report said that even if every country delivers its current national pledges, the planet is heading for about 2.6C of warming this century. Özgür Özel said Turkey lies in the Mediterranean, one of the regions most exposed to climate change, and he framed hosting COP31 as both an opportunity and a responsibility that begins at home.
“The UN Environment Programme’s latest Emissions Gap Report concludes that the chance of keeping warming below 1.5C without overshooting it is gone.”
Özgür Özel pointed to 2021 forests in Manavgat burning for more than a week, and he said last year wildfires forced more than 50,000 people from their homes around the western coast city of Izmir. Özgür Özel argued that COP31 can push for measurable outcomes including a voluntary fossil-fuel transition roadmap with national milestones for 2030 and 2035, and he said yearly reporting should track progress toward the agreed $1.3 trillion a year in climate finance by 2035.
Euskadi brings adaptation projects
The Basque Government said it will present six on-the-ground projects at COP31 in Antalya, and it said the delegation will be represented by Minister of Industry, Energy Transition and Sustainability Mikel Jauregi and Deputy Minister of Environment Josu Bilbao. Josu Bilbao told the summit that “there Euskadi has many competencies and many actions undertaken that it can demonstrate and present,” and he added that “Europe must move from reacting to the climate disasters we are suffering to anticipating impacts and preventing damage.” The Basque Government said it will present “Euskadi: Climate Change Adaptation Living Lab,” one of the 20 transformative projects contemplated in the Euskadi 2030 Industry Plan, and it said the living laboratory will test adaptation solutions across coastal, estuary, river basin, dense city, industrial, and vulnerable ecosystem settings.
The Basque delegation said it will explain six demonstrators, including coastal adaptation in Zarautz and the creation of a flooding forest and the recovery of the salt marsh in Bakio, and it said the Zarautz intervention has an estimated budget of 4.5 million. The Basque Government said it will seek European funding for future initiatives, and it framed the COP as “a space to secure funding,” while warning that “A greater investment from Europe is required, and that is what we will defend at this summit.”
U.S. delegation and demands
Democratic lawmaker Sean Casten said the United States will send a 19-member delegation to COP31 in Antalya, despite President Donald Trump withdrawing the country from the Paris Agreement for a second time upon taking office again.
Casten said the delegation will play an “important diplomatic role” at COP31, and he argued that “We will not, of course, be in the majority at that moment, but we will be met with an understanding of what has just happened.”
Greenpeace said COP31 must deliver for Africa and called for a “fast, fair and funded transition away from Fossil Fuels” to tackle the climate crisis.
Greenpeace said the science is unequivocal that the 1.5 °C limit is a non-negotiable hard limit for African survival, and it urged COP31 to set policies that scale global renewable power generation to at least 75% by 2035.
The Spanish Episcopal Conference and other signatories said “the era of implementation demands immediate, verifiable, funded action with a human face,” and they demanded “the time for speeches has ended. Translate your commitments into binding decisions that defend life, equity, and the common good.”
