- BIST10011,483+0.04%
- USD50.05+0.05%
- EUR56.25-0.01%
- GOLD4,072.50-1.00%
- INTEREST36.00%-1.00
- BITCOIN75,355-0.83%
- November 6, 202619°
- BIST10011,483+0.04%
- USD50.05+0.05%
- EUR56.25-0.01%
- GOLD4,072.50-1.00%
- INTEREST36.00%-1.00
- BITCOIN75,355-0.83%
- November 6, 202619°
3 days to COP31: U.S. lawmakers head to Antalya as WMO hails Türkiye's 'great job'
With three days to go before the U.N. climate summit opens in Antalya, a 19-member U.S. congressional delegation is preparing to attend even as the Trump administration stays out of the negotiations. Host Türkiye, meanwhile, drew praise from the World Meteorological Organization and laid out a roughly $100 billion plan to reach 175,000 megawatts of wind and solar power by 2040.
Three days before the 31st U.N. Climate Change Conference (COP31) opens in Antalya, American participation will come largely from Capitol Hill rather than the White House. A 19-member congressional delegation will attend the Nov. 9-20 summit in the Turkish Mediterranean city, Rep. Sean Casten, an Illinois Democrat, announced Wednesday, according to Euronews.
Led by the Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition (SEEC) Institute, the group plans to meet policymakers, civil society and business leaders to "explore opportunities for renewed US engagement on climate, energy, and economic policy," with Casten describing an "important diplomatic function." The Trump administration, which pulled the United States out of the Paris Agreement a second time, is not taking part in the negotiations, Euronews reported. State and local leaders are also expected under the "America Is All In" coalition.
In Türkiye, the countdown is in its final days. The official COP31 Türkiye account posted a short film on X with a call to action: "Only 3 days left to be part of the change!"
The 16-second clip moves from a hurricane seen from space, storm clouds and a misty forest to the Expo Tower and the summit grounds under the slogan "Let's Change Our Planet," ending on "3 days to go" and the COP31 logo. "We do not have another planet, yet we have the power to transform it," the post read.
Praise from the WMO, a Paris architect and the EBRD
Laurence Tubiana, CEO of the European Climate Foundation and one of the architects of the Paris Agreement, said Türkiye could play an important bridge-building role between the parties as COP31 president. European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) President Odile Renaud-Basso said the bank has already invested 2.5 billion euros in Türkiye this year and expects a record of more than 2.7 billion euros by year-end.
World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Secretary-General Celeste Saulo told Anadolu that Türkiye's active role in climate diplomacy is "very clear" and that, under COP31 President Murat Kurum, Türkiye's minister of environment, urbanization and climate change, the talks would be "in a good place" to change course and take concrete steps.
In the interview, Saulo says the WMO is fully aligned with the COP31 Action Agenda prepared by Türkiye, which puts science and evidence at the heart of decisions. She notes that the current El Niño has had impacts beyond anything seen before and that early warning systems save lives, though progress "is not happening at the pace we would like." "Türkiye is doing a great job at COP31, both organizationally and strategically," she said, urging governments to "move faster, implement now."
A $100 billion wind and solar push
Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar set out Türkiye's offer at the launch of its "National Energy 2040" roadmap in Istanbul on Thursday: 175,000 megawatts of wind and solar capacity, including offshore wind, by 2040, at a cost of about $100 billion. Capacity stands at about 44,000-45,000 MW today, up from 30,000 MW when President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan pledged to quadruple it ahead of COP29.
Total installed power is set to grow from 123,000 MW in 2025 to 281,000 MW in 2040, with renewables rising from 63% to 77% of capacity and about $190 billion of investment needed. Bayraktar said Türkiye will present a 35% electrification target for 2035 at COP31; electric vehicles alone are expected to lift their power use from 3.5 to 90 terawatt-hours. The first offshore wind tender is planned for next April, and nuclear capacity is to reach 10,000 MW by 2040.
The Turkish Wind Energy Association (TÜREB) said the 63,000 MW wind target alone will draw more than $50 billion over the next 14 years. "Companies look for predictability," its head Ibrahim Erden said, calling COP31 "a very important opportunity" for partnerships. The summit will also launch the Türkiye Industrial Decarbonization Investment Platform (TIDIP), which aims for 5 billion euros of investment and 20 million metric tons of annual CO2-equivalent cuts by 2030 in steel, aluminum, cement and fertilizer.
Forests, leaders and young innovators
Agriculture and Forestry Minister Ibrahim Yumaklı said crews fought 6,219 fires this year and the burned forest area fell about 68% from 2025. By his figures, fires hit 0.1% of Türkiye's forests in 2026, compared with 1.23% in the United States. On Nov. 11, Erdoğan, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres will plant saplings together in a Peace Forest created for the summit.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said Thursday he plans to attend the Nov. 11-12 Leaders Summit, to which Erdoğan invited him in New York in September. For young innovators, a COP31 climate tech creathon run by the T3 Foundation, the T3 Entrepreneurship Center and the Zero Waste Foundation under the slogan "Technology for Climate, Solution for the Future!" holds its final on Nov. 17-18; applications closed Nov. 2. Winners get a trip abroad, direct entry to the T3 pre-incubation program and Take Off Istanbul, and a speaking slot at the Zero Waste Forum.
Kurum marked the final stretch on Friday with a two-word post, "Son 3" — Turkish for "last 3" — and a clip filmed at the venue.
The 13-second video shows a Turkish flag against a dusk sky as the Expo Tower, the summit's landmark, lights up with "SON 3 GÜN," or "last 3 days," beneath the COP31 tulip emblem. For Türkiye, an observer at U.N. climate talks until 2004 and a party to the Paris Agreement since 2021, it will be the first COP held on home soil.
Videos: COP31 Türkiye and Murat Kurum via X, Anadolu Agency. Photo: Anadolu Agency. Cover: Antalya Expo park, the COP31 venue, by Hendric Stattmann / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Have a story, event or announcement of your own?Send us your news on WhatsApp
Spotted an error in this story?Report it on WhatsApp
Share on all social platforms
Sponsored Ads
Featured Listings
Loading featured properties...
Stay Updated with Ally Daily
Subscribe to be informed about special news, developments and announcements. We will keep you informed.
By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Policy
