From Göbeklitepe to Troy
In the “Blue Zone,” where official negotiations will take place, the plenary halls have been named “Anatolia” — the largest, with 1,794 seats — “Mediterranean,” with 828 seats, and “Antalya.” The press rooms are named after the mystic poets Mevlana Rumi and Yunus Emre. The 26 meeting rooms bear the names Göbeklitepe, Çatalhöyük, Ephesus, Zeugma, Cappadocia, Troy, Sumela, Pamukkale, Aspendos, Lake Van, Mount Ararat and the cartographer Piri Reis. In the “Green Zone,” which will be open to the public, the halls will be named after Ibn Sina, al-Farabi, al-Biruni, Nobel laureate Aziz Sancar and poet Mehmet Akif Ersoy.
The largest hall in the “Green Zone,” with 5,000 seats, has been named “Gaza.” The ministry said the name reflects Türkiye’s position on the Palestinian issue and carries a message of peace and humanitarian solidarity. The “Blue Zone” covers 527,000 square meters, while the “Green Zone” covers 582,000; they are expected to receive around 100,000 and 1.5 million visitors, respectively. The leaders’ summit is scheduled for November 11–12.
€5 billion for green industry
The Turkish Industrial Decarbonization Investment Platform (TIDIP), established by the Ministry of Industry and Technology together with the EBRD, as well as the IBRD and IFC of the World Bank Group, will be officially presented at COP31. The platform focuses on steelmaking, aluminum, cement and fertilizer production and is expected to support more than €5 billion in investment by 2030, reducing emissions by 20 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent annually. Its launch has received $250 million from the Clean Technology Fund, while the European Investment Bank, the Asian Development Bank and the Islamic Development Bank are expected to join it at a ceremony in Antalya.
In a report prepared for COP31, the World Health Organization called the climate crisis a health crisis: between 3.3 and 3.6 billion people live in conditions of high vulnerability, while six proven measures — from heat early-warning systems to clean household fuels — could save 1.6 million lives each year. The voluntary “Antalya Initiative for Health Resilience” will be launched at the summit.
The Netherlands plans to use the summit to develop cooperation with Türkiye in offshore wind energy, Ambassador to Ankara Alle Dorhout said. The two countries are preparing a declaration of intent, and Türkiye plans to obtain 5 GW from offshore wind farms out of the targeted 120 GW of wind and solar generation by 2035. Antalya will also showcase cotton from Southeastern Anatolia grown under the Better Cotton standard: a project involving the UNDP has reduced irrigation by approximately 45% and fertilizer use by 30%.
The conference program and participation information are available on the official COP31 website: cop31.tr.
Video: TRT Haber. Photo: Anadolu
