Turkey will use its role as host of this year’s COP31 climate summit to boost clean energy adoption, according to the event’s incoming president, with the Iran war showing how important it is to diversify away from fossil fuels.
Murat Kurum, Turkey’s environment minister who will oversee the talks, said in an interview that even countries whose economies rely on producing fossil fuels will need to shift to greener technologies. That includes nations in the Middle East that have historically blocked efforts to move away from emissions-heavy energy sources, he said.
“The world must transition away from fossil fuels, for sure,” Kurum told Bloomberg on the sidelines of the Petersberg Climate Dialogue in Berlin. “The recent crises have indeed showed us how crucial to have energy diversity. You should not be dependent on one single energy source.”
The Petersberg meeting is the first gathering on a long list of events that lead up to COP every year. COP31 will take place in the Turkish coastal city of Antalya in November and comes against a backdrop of soaring oil and gas prices as supplies are unable to traverse the Strait of Hormuz.
