Turkey's climate minister, speaking in Nadi on the last day of pre-COP, said countries were running from emissions cuts and that 1.5 billion dollars of finance would save the Pacific.
Murat Kurum, Turkey's climate minister and president of the COP31 conference, said on Thursday that holding the rise in global temperature is a matter of survival and that too many countries are avoiding emissions cuts. The Straits Times, citing Reuters, reported the remarks from a news conference in Nadi on the last day of the pre-COP meeting.
Kurum said everyone is running away from responsibility and that there is not a minute or a day to lose. He spoke after a visit to Tuvalu on October 6 and said mothers and children there were under increasing threat from every high tide. The pre-COP brought delegates to Fiji and took a group from about 30 countries to Tuvalu ahead of the main meeting in Antalya in November.
He said the 1.5 degree goal is a matter of survival of cultures, history, memories, homeland and homes. He contrasted that with NATO plans to lift defence spending to 5 percent of GDP, asking what it means to spend 5 percent on defence if there is no country left to defend. He said 1.5 billion dollars of financing for 1.5 degrees would save the Pacific, and that life would continue in Tuvalu.
Pacific Island governments used the meeting to press for resilience funding, ocean protection and the 1.5 degree limit. About 30 countries signed a declaration on October 6 calling for deep, rapid and sustained emissions reductions, the Straits Times reported. Kurum said Pacific goals would be taken seriously at COP31.
The Straits Times noted Turkey remains a large user of coal and oil, has pledged net-zero emissions by 2053, and is expanding renewable energy. No new finance instrument was announced at the Thursday briefing.
People Sentiments Negative
- Kurum said countries are running away from responsibility.
- He said 1.5 billion dollars for 1.5 degrees would save the Pacific.
- He asked what defence spending means if there is no country left to defend.