What can COP31 deliver?

In November, Türkiye will host COP31 in Antalya, but what exactly is it expected to deliver? Much of the answer was written in Belém. COP30 left behind a set of promises now waiting to be turned into practice: a presidency-led roadmap on the transition away from fossil fuels (TAFF), and a landmark decision on just transition that COP31 is mandated to complete by establishing a new just transition mechanism, already dubbed the "Belém-Antalya Mechanism, BAM." Yet the June negotiations in Bonn closed without even a draft, with countries divided over whether the mechanism should be a light coordination platform or a body that helps developing countries access finance, technology, and capacity building. Meanwhile, the Turkish presidency is shaping its own Action Agenda, with a proposed global electrification target as its flagship.

In this episode, Ümit Şahin, who has followed the UN climate negotiations since 2008, and Beatriz Mattos, who tracked the just transition negotiations from Belém to Bonn, discuss what COP31 inherits from COP30, what kind of transition agenda the Turkish presidency is expected to put forward, and whether Antalya can turn just transition from principle into practice, for coal regions, extraction-affected communities, and workers in Türkiye, Brazil, and beyond.

Participants

Beatriz Mattos, Research Coordinator, Plataforma CIPÓ

Holds a PhD in International Relations from the Pontifical Catholic University in Rio de Janeiro and a Master's degree in International Relations and Political Science from the Instituto Universitário de Pesquisa do Rio de Janeiro at Candido Mendes University. She was a Visiting Researcher at the Mistra Geopolitics Program at Linköping University, Sweden. She also worked as Co-coordinator of the Socio-Environmental Platform of the BRICS Policy Center, as a consultant for the United Nations Development Program and as a Senior Researcher at Centro Soberania e Clima.

Ümit Şahin, Climate Change Cluster Coordinator, Senior Scholar, Istanbul Policy Center

Ümit Şahin is Senior Scholar and the Coordinator of Climate Change Studies at Istanbul Policy Center. Şahin teaches courses on Global Environmental Challenges, Climate Change and Environmental Politics at Sabanci University Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. He is also Mercator-IPC Fellowship Program Climate Change Juror.

Since the early 1990s, Şahin has been part of the climate, ecology and environmental movements, and an active contributor to anti-nuclear and human rights movements. Şahin was the editor-in-chief of the green political journal “Üç Ekoloji” (Three Ecologies) that he has founded in 2003.

Şahin is one of the founders of the Association of the Doctors for the Environment, serving as the organization’s president between 2002 and 2006. In 2007, Şahin coordinated the “Turkey sign Kyoto!” campaign, which was carried out by Turkey’s Green Party, for whom he was one of the founders and served as co-spokesperson between 2010 and 2012. He also has participated as an observer to the UNFCCC Climate Conferences (COPs) since 2008. He served as a member of Steering Committee of the Istanbul City Council for its 2019-2023 period.

Together with Ömer Madra, Şahin has been the producer and host of the “Açık Yeşil” (Open Green) radio program on Açık Radio since 2008. In addition, he edits and writes on climate change and environmental issues for “Yeşil Gazete” (Green Newspaper).

Şahin authored and edited several books, such as “Why We Can’t Wait: Global Warming and Climate Crisis”, 2007 (with Ömer Madra, as interviewer and editor), “Green Economy”, 2012 (as co-editor with Ahmet Atıl Aşıcı), Open Green 1 - An Ecology Guide with Its Theory and Practice, 2019, and Open Green 2 - Climate Crisis, Politics, and Activism, 2020 (as co-author with Ömer Madra). Şahin has also several book chapters, policy papers and articles related to climate change, energy transition, environmental health, and green politics.

Ümit Şahin graduated from Cerrahpaşa Medical School in 1991, completed his Master of Public Health in Hebrew University and received his Ph.D. degree in public health from Istanbul Univeresity in 2000. His public health works has focused on environmental health.

Translator & Language: Barış Yıldırım, English