Turkey’s environment minister Murat Kurum, speaking in Fiji ahead of COP31, asked what defense spending is worth if there is no country left to defend.
Murat Kurum, Turkey’s environment minister and president-designate of the COP31 climate summit, said on Thursday that cutting emissions and preparing for extreme weather needed the same urgency governments are giving defense spending. He spoke to reporters in Nadi, Fiji, at talks ahead of the November conference, the Japan Times reported, citing Bloomberg.
Kurum said every country should show the same responsibility and determination on climate as on defense. He asked what it means to spend 5 percent on defense if there is no country left to live in, and what it means to defend it. The Japan Times noted that NATO members last year agreed to spend at least 3.5 percent of output on core defense by 2035, with up to a further 1.5 percent on related areas.
Australian Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen, who will preside over the COP31 negotiations, said in Fiji that the countries needing finance most receive it least, and that this had to change. Bowen and Kurum on Tuesday led a group, including the heads of the Asian Development Bank and the Green Climate Fund, to Tuvalu.
The Japan Times account is of the Fiji preparatory meetings, not of a new finance pledge. No dollar figure for COP31 was reported in the story.
COP31 is scheduled for November. The report does not say the host-city arrangements changed on Thursday.
People Sentiments Neutral
- Kurum asked what defense spending is worth if there is no country left to live in.
- Chris Bowen said the countries that need climate finance most get it least.