Opening Keynote at the Petersberg Climate Dialogue

Excellencies, distinguished colleagues, dear friends,

I am delighted to be here with you in Berlin, where the heart of the global climate agenda beats. I extend my deepest gratitude to my colleagues at the United Nations for their partnership and support, and to the German government for successfully running this conference for the past 17 years.

First of all, I must acknowledge that we meet at a critical time, coinciding with global crisis. This crisis deeply influences the global energy markets, international supply chains, and rules-based multilateralism. The climate crisis, with the severe consequences and devastation it causes, unfortunately accompanies these crises and increases their impact.

Drought is costing over $300 billion a year. Rising sea-levels are eroding 30 per cent of the Mediterranean's coast. Overall, ecosystems, lives, and livelihoods are under threat. And as people face these challenges, they rightly ask "what kind of solutions is the international system proposing?" They want us to make sure that we are learning the right lessons from our successes and our failures, and they want us to do strong work in this area.

So, what are the immediate lessons we must learn? First, I would like to start with energy supply security. Energy systems, which have lifted billions of people out of poverty, are experiencing a global crisis for the second time in four years. But this crisis has clearly shown us that fossil fuels do not guarantee energy supply security.

As we all agreed in Dubai, we emphasized how important the need for alternative energy sources and the diversification of countries' energy is, in line with national circumstances. Investing in alternative energy sources, in particular to support energy diversity, means stability, resilience and clean development. This is what we must all pursue. Türkiye has tripled renewable electricity generation and invested more than $10 billion in energy efficiency in the past decade. Since the 2022 energy crisis we have permitted more energy storage capacity than any EU state. And we have an ambitious target to add at least 8 gigawatts of renewables each year up to 2035. In addition, we aim to invest more than $20 billion in energy efficiency by 2030. However, we recognize that achieving such tangible results is not equally easy for every country. That's why we must work together to bridge the gap between global needs and available resources.

Esteemed friends, this leads us to the second lesson: although multilateralism has declined, it has not disappeared completely. Many countries still want shared solutions. COP may face challenges. But it is the best place to bring everyone around the same table. As the COP31 Presidency, we are committed to responsible stewardship. We will defend the process and seek to reinforce its foundations.

"Although multilateralism has declined, it has not disappeared completely. Many countries still want shared solutions. COP is the best place to bring everyone around the same table."

We will ensure that countries fulfil the fundamental requirements of the COP. We expect countries to submit their NDCs and BTRs as soon as possible. Donors must also meet their commitments. And this year developed countries must submit their first biennial communications to show how they will contribute their fair share towards the COP29 Baku Finance Goal. We need strong replenishments of the UN climate funds, because concessional and grant-based public finance are essential for countries with limited fiscal space. The third replenishment round of the Green Climate Fund this year will be critical. And we are always seeking to increase the allocations for the Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage. We will emphasize that support for the Paris Agreement needs to be strengthened with concrete steps.

Distinguished colleagues, at this point we need to shift to a concrete and solution-oriented implementation mode – that is what we have been saying with our Australian colleagues and friends since day one. That is why we believe COP31 needs to be a solution-oriented "COP of the Future", and we are preparing based on this understanding. On one hand, we build consensus in negotiations. On the other hand, we empower smaller coalitions to deliver rapid progress, based on this consensus, all while we respect the need for inclusivity, transparency, and a party-driven process. This is a demonstration of our commitment to the principles of dialogue, consensus, and action, which form the basis of our COP31 approach.

Esteemed participants, successive presidencies have delivered many great outcomes through different initiatives. As the COP31 Presidency, we want to institutionalize this process further. We want to double down on success. Of course, we can't do that alone – we can only deliver that together with you. We are working closely with our Brazilian colleagues regarding the next steps to be taken. And we want to make sure that we can hand it over to our Ethiopian successors in a way even more capable of delivering results.

As the COP31 Presidency, we will also put a spotlight on nine of our thematic priorities aligned with the Global Climate Action Agenda. These include zero waste approaches to support the transition to a circular economy; clean energy to supply sustainable and secure energy for all; industrial decarbonization to help achieve climate goals and sustainable competitiveness; oceans and seas to protect coastal and marine ecosystems; food security and sustainable agriculture to drive the urgent transformation of our food systems and build a resilient future for our farmers; climate-resilient cities to ensure safe and liveable places for everyone; youth participation to harness the best of their energies and passions; and cross-sectoral action to build synergies across climate change, biodiversity and land degradation. In order to achieve this, we will foster partnerships and accelerate progress in the corresponding activation groups.

Perhaps most important of all will be the additional mechanism we are working on to support the Global Implementation Accelerator and deliver concrete results. We aim for this mechanism to be a step that brings together key actors, mobilizes the private sector and philanthropic funding, addresses sectoral priorities, and ensures alignment with development goals. And we expect all actors to follow the recommendations of the Baku-to-Belem Roadmap to $1.3 trillion. This will be vital to making progress across all climate pillars, from mitigation to adaptation and loss and damage.

Esteemed colleagues, I must emphasize that Türkiye and Australia share a common vision for success. We are combining our diverse perspectives, capabilities, and relationships to serve COP31. We believe the only difference between us that we cannot change is the time zone difference. COP31, which we will hold in Antalya, will be the beginning of a new era of cooperation and partnership.

At COP31 we will work with all of you. Let me assure you, these are not just words that I utter. The process will be a collaborative one, leaving no one behind. We will work with our predecessors, Mukhtar and André, to build upon the critical outcomes from Baku and Belém. We will work with our Pacific Island colleagues. We will work with our Ethiopian successors on COP-to-COP continuity and African priorities. And we will work with all constituencies and civil society groups to deliver real solutions to the real problems they face.

Under the leadership of our President, His Excellency Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Türkiye has been constructively facilitating dialogue in pursuit of common solutions to the most complex geopolitical crises, and we will do the same for the COP31 process under his leadership. I extend my gratitude to His Excellency for his full support to deliver a successful COP31. I would also like to thank Her Excellency Emine Erdoğan, who champions many nature and climate-friendly projects, especially the Zero Waste project. We aim to contribute to building a more just, inclusive and functional global order. If we can achieve this together, COP31 will not only be a summit, but a true milestone for us all. With this, I invite you all once again to COP31, which will take place in our tourism paradise Antalya from November 9-20. I thank you.