Türkiye's COP31 Promotes Building Energy Efficiency and Climate-Resilient Infrastructure Development in Cities

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On November 12, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the International Organization for Migration, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the United Nations Children's Fund, the United Nations Refugee Agency and the World Food Programme jointly launched the United Nations Disaster Risk Financing Platform during the 31st Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP31) held in Antalya, Türkiye, with a plan to secure more than USD 3 billion in risk financing for 75 million people by 2030. The platform will integrate the expertise, risk data and predictive analytics of the six agencies and bring in support from the insurance industry and financial markets to provide funding guarantees for anticipatory action before climate disasters such as floods, storms and heatwaves occur.

The platform focuses on bridging the gap between disaster early warning and the actual arrival of funds. UN agencies disclosed that pre-arranged financing currently accounts for less than 2% of total global humanitarian financing. Before the platform's official launch, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and the United Nations Children's Fund had already arranged insurance coverage for their respective anticipatory action plans, the World Food Programme provided specialized insurance support, and the International Organization for Migration was responsible for introducing population displacement risk analysis and anticipatory action experience. The six agencies will expand their capacity for fund mobilization before disasters through data sharing, risk assessment and funding coordination.

During Climate Week NYC on September 24, 2026, the Turkish COP31 Presidency, through Türkiye's Municipal Bank (ILBANK), together with UN-Habitat and the World Bank, launched the Sustainable Urban Resilience Financing Facility (SURFF). The mechanism is not a newly established standalone fund, but rather connects existing international financing resources, technical support and local project needs to help low- and middle-income countries translate urban climate adaptation goals into bankable projects. The mechanism consists of three parts: the National Platform for Resilient Cities, the Centre of Excellence for Resilient Cities and the International Dialogue on Resilient Cities, which are respectively responsible for project organization and financing linkage, technical methodologies and project preparation, and international experience exchange. UN-Habitat estimates that cities will need approximately USD 4.5 trillion in climate investment annually by 2030, while current annual urban climate finance flows stand at about USD 831 billion, equivalent to only about one-fifth of the estimated need.

Climate adaptation investment also received new funding arrangements during COP31. The Climate Investment Funds (CIF) announced on November 12 the first batch of selected countries under the ARISE resilience investment program. Five countries — Bangladesh, Haiti, the Kyrgyz Republic, Morocco and Sierra Leone — as well as a regional project involving Malawi and Mozambique, were granted eligibility to develop investment plans. Each of the five countries may apply for up to USD 30 million in concessional financing, while the regional project may apply for up to USD 40 million, with a potential total financing application ceiling of USD 190 million. The selection identified a pipeline of potential investment projects exceeding USD 700 million from 25 expressions of interest, covering areas such as agriculture and food systems, water security, infrastructure, energy, coastal protection and social protection.

On October 29, the COP31 Presidency released the Antalya Building Energy Efficiency Compact, which proposes reducing the operational energy intensity of the global building stock by 25% by 2035 compared with 2020 levels, and accelerating building electrification in line with the goal of achieving a 35% share of electricity in global final energy consumption by 2035. The compact is open for endorsement by all Parties and identifies six priority action areas, including building electrification, national strategies, building performance, retrofitting existing buildings, power system flexibility, and implementation financing and capacity building.

The Istanbul Zero Waste Action Platform announced on November 12 the first batch of 20 cities selected for zero waste zone development, with plans to carry out waste reduction, reuse, repair and resource recycling practices at the community scale and to quantify methane emission reductions. The initiative subsequently aims to expand implementation to 100 zero waste zones, with participants including local governments, businesses and community organizations.

Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London and Co-Chair of the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group, proposed during COP31 that all member cities of the alliance establish complete disaster early warning systems by the end of 2027. The C40 network covers nearly 100 cities with a combined population of close to 1 billion. The London municipal government estimates that heatwaves in the summer of 2026 caused approximately GBP 2.5 billion in productivity losses; if summer temperatures continue to reach or exceed 2026 levels over the next decade, cumulative productivity losses could exceed GBP 25 billion.