Press Conference, COP30

MURAT KURUM, MINISTER OF ENVIRONMENT AND URBAN PLANNING OF TÜRKIYE [LIVE TRANSLATION]: I greet you all with utmost affection and respect. I am delighted to be here with you at COP30 held in Belem in the heart of the Amazon. Today, I would like to share with you an important development regarding our bid to host COP31, which we have been pursuing since 2022. As you know, Australia had also expressed its bid on COP31 [indistinct] European [indistinct]… consultation conducted with an amicable understanding and in [indistinct] dialogue, we have reached an agreement as of today. In line with the 2050 Green Zero Emissions and Green Transformation Vision set forth by our President, His Excellencies, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, our steadfast stance in the Zero Waste Initiative led by First Lady, Her Excellencies, Emine Erdogan. Hundreds of bilateral meetings, days of diplomatic negotiations, [indistinct] visits to dozens of countries and repeated discussions of the effort of all [indistinct]…

Türkiye will assume the COP31 presidency and will hold COP31. Australia will lead the negotiations. The two countries will work together to establish a strong partnership. Furthermore, we have reached a common understanding to hold the pre-COP meeting in the Pacific region in order to make the priorities of Pacific countries, among the regions’ most vulnerable to climate change, more visible. In this context, Türkiye and Australia will work together to ensure that regions that are most affected by climate change, such as the Mediterranean and the Pacific are given a louder voice on the global agenda. We will work together to support multilateralism and respect and inclusive cooperation worldwide. We are friends. Türkiye demonstrates its determination, leadership and sincere approach to international cooperation on climate action, and [indistinct]... The major steps we have taken towards the 2053 Net Zero Emissions target, announced by President Erdogan, have influenced all countries of the world and brought Türkiye to its [indistinct]...

I must highlight Türkiye has embraced the voices of all the impoverished and oppressed peoples who have been harmed by the negative effects of climate change and forced to leave their homes and families during COP31 process. Türkiye and Australia will once again provide the most effective solutions to the expectations and urgent needs of humanity and the Earth, Australia and Türkiye, the ANZACs and the Turks, have taken a giant step forward in turning the shared pain they experience at Canakkale, Gallipoli into a means for friendship, cooperation and service to humanity. I hope that this great step we have taken here will set a great example for all humanity.

I would like to thank the COP 29th President Azerbaijan and COP 30th Presidency Brazil for mediating these important negotiations. I thank all my colleagues, all my teammates, and all the countries that have placed their trust in us for their efforts for the future of humanity. And as constructive, as possible, as effectively as possible, with my dear Chris and myself, we have done everything in our best power to reach this conclusion. May this be fruitful to all parties, to our regions, to the climate action agenda, I hope this will be a fruitful initiative for us all. May this be a fruitful initiative and we await you in our heavenly homeland Türkiye, a meeting for [indistinct] humanity, continents, and civilisations. Greetings to you all.

[Applause]

CHRIS BOWEN, AUSTRALIAN MINISTER FOR CLIMATE CHANGE AND ENERGY: Thank you Minister Kurum. Well, climate change needs strong global cooperation and Türkiye and Australia will deliver a COP31 which will underline real, meaningful and impactful climate cooperation, partnership as well with the Pacific Islands who have so much stake in the climate change battle. This has been quite an easy conversation and a very important one. And I'm very confident that the trust and good will between Australia and Türkiye will see a COP delivered and a COP delivered extremely well, good and solid results in a difficult international environment. And that partnership between Minister Kurum as COP31 President and me as President of the Negotiations, I think, is a model which other countries may choose to follow afterwards because we will know that we can get it right. And one of the important elements of our bid to host COP31 was to elevate the voices of the Pacific and I want to thank the Türkiye for agreeing immediately to to all our addresses to incorporate the voices of the Pacific in our COP and the pre-COP will be held in the Pacific. Minister Kurum will be there as COP31 President, and I'll be there as President of Negotiations. This will send a key message, not only to the Pacific, but to the world, that the Pacific voices need to be heard and I again want to thank Minister Kurum for agreeing to that immediately.

So, we are now in the middle of COP30, I think it's clear to all how difficult COPs can be, how complicated the negotiations can be, and I have no doubt that will be the same next year. But I also have no doubt that the powerful arrangement we've entered into which is now being incorporated as a COP decision and being adopted by the COP, the agreement that we’ve entered into, built on the basis of the good will, will see us deliver a successful COP. So I'm going to ask Minister Kurum to join me for a photo to mark this important partnership. Then I'm going to ask the climate ministers of Vanuatu, Solomon Islands and Palau to join us for a photo to underline the strength of that partnership. Then Minister Kurum has to depart for Türkiye and then we'll hear a statement from the Pacific Islands and then we'll have a further conversation. Thank you for coming this afternoon.