Istanbul hosted an intensive diplomacy traffic regarding the 31st Session of the Conference of the Parties (COP31) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) on February 11-12, 2026.
Critical contacts were made in Istanbul ahead of COP31, which will take place in Antalya on November 9-20.
While the COP31 Kick-off Meeting was held under the chairmanship of the Minister of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change and COP31 President Murat Kurum, a series of meetings were also held within the scope of the COP31 High-Level Climate Championship.
On February 11-12, the framework for the COP31 process was set forth with a meeting bringing together officials from Türkiye, Australia, Azerbaijan, Brazil, and the Secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
President of the Zero Waste Foundation and COP31 High-Level Climate Champion Samed Ağırbaş also attended the meeting chaired by Minister Kurum and UNFCCC Executive Secretary Mr. Simon Stiell.
During the meeting; the shared strategic vision and priority outcome areas for COP31, the impact of geopolitical developments on multilateral climate negotiations, financing, global stocktake, thematic priorities in mitigation and adaptation, alignment mechanisms between the global Climate Action agenda and negotiation processes, milestones to be followed throughout the year, and the roadmap leading to Antalya were discussed.
Additionally, international contacts were held throughout the week under the chairmanship of Zero Waste Foundation President and COP31 High-Level Climate Champion Samed Ağırbaş.
Ağırbaş met with the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Simon Stiell, Ambassador of Singapore Kok Li Peng, and State Secretary at the German Federal Ministry for the Environment Jochen Flasbarth.
During the meeting with Stiell within the framework of the Climate High-Level Champion Meetings, the steps to be taken in the COP31 process as the Zero Waste Foundation and the High-Level Climate Champion Office were discussed.
While potential collaborations with NGOs and stakeholders in Singapore were discussed in Ağırbaş’s meeting with Singapore's Ambassador Li Peng; joint working areas of climate stakeholders were evaluated with State Secretary Flasbarth of the German Federal Ministry for the Environment.
Continuing its work with the vision of the Founder of the Zero Waste Movement, Honorary President of the Zero Waste Foundation, and Chairperson of the UN Advisory Board of Eminent Persons on Zero Waste, First Lady Emine Erdoğan, the Zero Waste Foundation and the COP31 High-Level Climate Championship are maintaining their contacts with national and international stakeholders to ensure a strong and inclusive ground preparation for the COP31 process to be held in Türkiye.
