ANKARA, Sept 22 (Reuters) – Turkey’s COP31 president on Monday laid out an agenda aimed at turning existing climate commitments into projects and measurable results, with targets including raising electricity’s share of energy consumption to 35% by 2035 and cutting projected increases in municipal waste by half.
COP31 President and Turkish Environment, Urbanisation and Climate Change Minister Murat Kurum said the summit action agenda, presented at a United Nations event in New York, was based on “dialogue, consensus and action” and would focus on implementation rather than new pledges.
He said the agenda would cover 10 themes, including clean energy and electrification, zero waste and methane reduction, climate-resilient cities, green industrialisation, youth and education, food security, oceans, health systems, biodiversity and land-use synergies, and implementation of national climate plans.
Other targets include cutting energy-use intensity in buildings by at least 25% and increasing the global circular-material-use rate to at least 15% by 2035, Kurum said, adding that the targets could have the potential to reduce global emissions by 8.5-10 gigatons of CO2 by 2035.
“For us, implementation is not simply announcing more commitments, but turning existing commitments into measurable results on the ground,” Kurum said. “We must facilitate access to finance, strengthen capacity, bring technology and investment together with real needs, and strengthen cooperation in a way that accelerates implementation.”
Kurum also outlined plans to launch a Green Industrialisation Facilitation Mechanism for the least-developed countries (LDC-GIF), aimed at connecting the industrialisation needs and project opportunities identified by least-developed countries with existing technology, technical expertise and financing.
He said the mechanism would not create a new financing structure, but would help move projects “from needs to projects, from projects to technology and finance, and from there to investment and production capacity.”
This would follow COP31’s proposed broader Climate Implementation Bridge, aimed at turning nations’ climate commitments into investment-ready projects, he added.
Kurum said COP31 will also launch several new initiatives covering green freight corridors, industrial decarbonisation, least-developed countries, artificial intelligence and clean technologies, circularity, energy-efficient buildings, oceans, food security and climate-resilient health systems.
Kurum said consultations on the agenda would continue at a Fiji pre-COP meeting next month.
The COP31 climate summit will be held in the southern Turkish province of Antalya from November 9 to 20, with Australia leading the formal negotiating process under an arrangement that gives Turkey responsibility for the presidency and action agenda.
(Reporting by Tuvan Gumrukcu; editing by Lincoln Feast.)
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