The agenda of the UN summit is laid out by Turkey's COP31 president
On Monday, the president of Turkey's COP31 outlined a plan to 'transform' existing climate commitments into projects with measurable results. This included raising electricity's share in energy consumption by 2035 to 35% and reducing projected increases in municipal garbage by half.
Murat Kurum, COP31 president and Turkish Environment, Urbanisation and Climate Change minister, said that the summit action plan, presented at a United Nations meeting in New York, is based on "dialogue, agreement and action", and will focus more on implementation than new pledges.
He said that the agenda would include ten themes including clean energy, electrification and zero waste, methane reduction and climate-resilient urbanisation. Other topics will be youth and education as well as food security, oceans, health systems and biodiversity.
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.
Kurum stated that "for us, implementation does not mean announcing new commitments but converting existing commitments to measurable results in the field." "We need to facilitate access, improve capacity, align technology and investment with real needs and enhance cooperation so that implementation is accelerated."
Kurum has also announced plans to launch the Green Industrialisation Facilitation Mechanism (LDC-GIF) aimed at bridging the gap between the industrialisation requirements and project opportunities identified in the LDCs and existing technology, expertise and funding.
He said that the mechanism wouldn't create a new financial structure but it would help to move projects from "needs to projects" and then from?projects? to?technology? and finance and finally to investment and production capability.
He added that this would be in addition to the broader Climate Implementation Bridge proposed by COP31, which aims to turn nations' climate commitments (and projects) into?investment ready projects.
Kurum stated that COP31 would also launch a number of new?initiatives focusing on green freight corridors and industrial decarbonisation. These initiatives will cover artificial intelligence, clean technologies, circularity and energy-efficient building, as well as oceans, food and health security, and climate-resilient healthcare systems.
Kurum stated that?consultations would continue?at a Fiji Pre-COP Meeting next month.
The COP31 'climate summit' will take place in southern Turkish province Antalya between November 9 and 20. Australia will lead the formal negotiating processes under an agreement that gives Turkey responsibility of the presidency.
(source: Reuters)
