Türkiye signs host country agreement for COP31 UN climate change conference

The Turkish president of this fall's UN climate change conference on Tuesday signed the COP31 conference host country agreement during a gathering in Bonn, Germany.

Türkiye's Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change Minister Murat Kurum, who also serves as COP31 president, attended the signing ceremony during the Bonn Climate Change Conference, the ministry said in a post on Turkish social media platform NSosyal.

He signed the protocol with Simon Stiell, executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

Following the signing, Kurum said Türkiye's constructive cooperation with the UN secretariat would continue to grow in the coming days.

During his visit to Bonn, Kurum also held talks on Türkiye hosting the COP31 climate change conference, set to be held in Türkiye this November.

He met with several regional groups, including the African Group of Negotiators, Alliance of Small Island States, Umbrella Group of 11 countries, Group of Latin America and the Caribbean, and the Arab Group.

Kurum also met with Jochen Flasbarth, Germany's state secretary at the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Climate Action, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety.

Kurum listened to the groups' wishes and underlined that Türkiye would continue working for a process in which no one is left behind.

The UN climate change conference, known as COP31, is set to take place on Nov. 9–20 in Antalya, southern Türkiye.