Economy
Türkiye stresses dialogue, action vision ahead of COP31 in Antalya
Türkiye is the “natural center” of the fight against the global climate crisis, Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change Minister and COP31 President Murat Kurum said on Thursday, underscoring that the country’s approach to the climate conference is “clear” and is that of dialogue, consensus and action.
Speaking alongside Simon Stiell, the executive secretary of U.N. Climate Change, at a press conference in Istanbul, Kurum evaluated the aspirations for the upcoming 31st Conference of the Parties (COP31), a high-level global climate summit to be held in Türkiye’s coastal city of Antalya.
COP30 President Andre Correa do Lago was also present at the press conference.
Fully known as the 2026 United Nations Climate Change Conference, or Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the event is set to take place from Nov. 9 to Nov. 20.
Türkiye, in partnership with Australia, secured a bid to host the summit at the last climate talks in Brazil’s Belem.
As a first-time host and current president of the event, Türkiye will also organize a two-day World Leaders’ Summit. It will also be responsible for preparing official communications for the COP31 conference, overseeing operational and logistical arrangements, and appointing the U.N. High-Level Climate Champion, among other duties.
Australia, on the other hand, is assigned to “leading the negotiations agenda.” Moreover, building on the efforts of the COP30 Brazilian Presidency, Türkiye and Australia will work together, and with Pacific island countries, to strengthen and elevate the action agenda.
Speaking on Thursday, Kurum said they aim to carry out the COP31 process with a results-oriented approach. “We truly want COP31 to be successful,” he stressed.
He started his speech by noting that COP meetings “are very critical and valuable,” as “we are experiencing the devastating effects of the climate crisis more severely by each passing day.”
High expectations
“As Türkiye and Australia, we will work as one body with an understanding based on consultation and cooperation. We are all aware that the world’s expectations from COP31 are high,” he said.
“Our responsibility is to read these expectations correctly, to build trust among the parties and to produce results.”
“There is something we always say. We do not see COP31 merely as a conference, and no one should see it that way,” he maintained.
According to Kurum, Türkiye’s approach to COP31 is “clear.”
“We will not be a single voice but will engage in dialogue, we will act not with division but with consensus, and we will prefer action, not stagnation, in order to achieve results,” he said.
Emphasizing the understanding of responsibility that draws from the common memory of civilizations and reminds humanity of its ancient relationship with nature, the minister said they are approaching the talks with the idea and understanding that “they would hear, make heard and encourage everyone’s voice.”
Moreover, he described that climate change is no longer just an environmental crisis but instead “an existential issue,” which he said is affecting every aspect of human life, from trade and transportation to industry, food, energy and education.
At the same time, he suggested they would “respect countries’ development priorities,” while also pointing to the issue of financing, which is “of great importance in terms of advancing implementation.”
“Again, our local governments, our private sector, financial institutions and non-governmental organizations must continue to be the main actors of this process,” he further said.
Similarly, he underscored the significance of the Zero Waste Movement carried out under the auspices of first lady Emine Erdoğan. The initiative “has shown the entire world that climate action does not have to remain at the level of rhetoric, but can be carried into a results-oriented transformation framework,” according to Kurum.
Rebuilding trust in multilateralism
Emphasizing that as the COP31 presidency, they are determined to rebuild trust in multilateralism with “a strong vision focused on producing results,” the minister also drew attention to the nature and standing “with humanity.”
“At a time when climate change is sweeping across the entire world, Türkiye stands with humanity,” he proclaimed.
“The world is our common home, and we have nowhere else to go, no other home, no other shelter. With this awareness, we say that Türkiye is the natural center of the struggle to be waged against the global climate crisis,” he said.
Also expressing that Türkiye will be “a bridge” bringing together the north and the south, the east and the west, developed economies and developing societies, Kurum went on to say that “Türkiye is a country that has assumed the leadership of global climate justice, has proven and earned this claim by standing on the right side of humanity at all critical moments in history.”
“The future will take shape here, in Anatolia. A road map for a livable future for all humanity will be presented from here,” he added.
“We cannot stop, because those beautiful people on the Pacific islands that face the risk of being submerged are waiting for us.”
Climate action, investment
Stiell, for his part, said that one thing “is clear,” as he suggested that COP31 in Antalya will take place in extraordinary times, the times he described as “a new world disorder.”
“This is a period of instability and insecurity. Of strong arms and trade wars. The very concept of international cooperation is under attack. These challenges are real and serious,” he said.
“But climate action can deliver stability in an unstable world.”
“In the face of the current chaos, we can, and must, drive forward a new era of international climate cooperation,” he urged, referring to previous action and decisions and suggesting that “nations can deliver change on a major scale when they stand together.”
Stiell, in particular, addressed the investments in renewable energy. He cited that in the decade since the Paris Agreement, “clean energy investment is up tenfold.”
He said that in 2025, despite all the economic uncertainty and political headwinds, the global transition kept surging forward as the clean energy investment “kept growing strongly, and was more than double that of fossil fuels.”
“Renewables overtook coal as the world’s top electricity source,” he added.
“This is an era to speed up and scale up,” he also said.
“Climate action is indisputably in every nation’s self-interest.”
The Trump administration unveiled its most far-reaching move yet to roll back U.S. climate policy on Thursday, declaring it would rescind the scientific determination that greenhouse gases pose a threat to public health, a finding that underpinned federal climate rules, and eliminate national emissions standards for vehicles and engines.
The moves come after a year of implementing a string of regulatory cuts and other actions intended to unfetter fossil fuel development and stymie the rollout of clean energy.
“Under the process just completed by the EPA, we are officially terminating the so-called endangerment finding, a disastrous Obama-era policy that severely damaged the American auto industry and drove up prices for American consumers,” Trump said, saying it was the biggest deregulatory action in U.S. history.
Trump announced the repeal beside Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin and White House Budget director Russ Vought, who has long sought to revoke the finding and was a key architect of conservative policy blueprint Project 2025.
Trump has said he believes climate change is a “con job,” and has withdrawn the United States from the Paris Agreement, leaving the world’s largest historic contributor to global warming out of international efforts to combat it in addition to killing Biden-era tax credits aimed at accelerating deployment of electric cars and renewable energy.
Former President Barack Obama blasted the move, saying without the endangerment finding, “we’ll be less safe, less healthy and less able to fight climate change – all so the fossil fuel industry can make even more money.”
Former President Barack Obama blasted the move, warned that Trump’s decision would leave Americans “less safe, less healthy.”
“Without it, we’ll be less safe, less healthy and less able to fight climate change – all so the fossil fuel industry can make even more money,” the 44th president wrote on social media platform X.
‘Holy grail’
Zeldin said the Trump administration took on the most consequential climate policy of the last 15 years, something that the agency avoided during his first term amid industry concern about legal and regulatory uncertainty.
“Referred to by some as the holy grail of federal regulatory overreach, the 2009 Obama EPA endangerment finding is now eliminated,” he said.
The endangerment finding was first adopted by the United States in 2009, and led the EPA to take action under the Clean Air Act of 1963 to curb emissions of carbon dioxide, methane, and four other heat-trapping air pollutants from vehicles, power plants and other industries.
It came about after the Supreme Court ruled in 2007 in the Massachusetts vs. EPA case that the agency has authority to regulate carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions under the Clean Air Act.
Its repeal would remove the regulatory requirements to measure, report, certify, and comply with federal greenhouse gas emission standards for cars, but may not initially apply to stationary sources such as power plants.
The transportation and power sectors are each responsible for around a quarter of U.S. greenhouse gas output, according to EPA figures.
The EPA said the repeal and end of vehicle emission standards will save U.S. taxpayers $1.3 trillion, while the prior administration said the rules would have net benefits to consumers through lower fuel costs and other savings.
The Alliance for Automotive Innovation, representing major automakers, did not endorse the action but said “automotive emissions regulations finalized in the previous administration are extremely challenging for automakers to achieve given the current marketplace demand for EVs.”
The Environmental Defense Fund said that the repeal will end up costing Americans more, despite EPA’s statement that climate regulations have driven up costs for consumers.
“Administrator Lee Zeldin has directed EPA to stop protecting the American people from the pollution that’s causing worse storms, floods, and skyrocketing insurance costs,” said EDF President Fred Krupp. “This action will only lead to more of this pollution, and that will lead to higher costs and real harms for American families.”
Under former President Joe Biden, the EPA aimed to cut passenger vehicle fleetwide tailpipe emissions by nearly 50% by 2032 compared with 2027 projected levels and forecast between 35% and 56% of new vehicles sold between 2030 and 2032 would need to be electric.
The agency then estimated that the rules would result in net benefits of $99 billion annually through 2055, including $46 billion in reduced fuel costs, and $16 billion in reduced maintenance and repair costs for drivers.
Consumers were expected to save an average of $6,000 over the lifetime of new vehicles from reduced fuel and maintenance costs.
The coal industry celebrated the announcement on Thursday saying it would help stave off retirements of aging coal-fired power plants.
“Utilities have announced plans to retire more than 55,000 megawatts of coal-fired generation over the next five years. Reversing these retirement decisions could help offset the need to build new, more expensive electricity sources and prevent the loss of reliability attributes, such as fuel security, that the coal fleet provides,” said America’s Power President and CEO Michelle Bloodworth.
Uncertainty unbound
While many industry groups back the repeal of stringent vehicle emission standards, others have been reluctant to show public support for rescinding the endangerment finding because of the legal and regulatory uncertainty it could unleash.
Legal experts said the policy reversal could, for example, lead to a surge in lawsuits known as “public nuisance” actions, a pathway that had been blocked following a 2011 Supreme Court ruling that GHG regulation should be left in the hands of the Environmental Protection Agency instead of the courts.
“This may be another classic case where overreach by the Trump administration comes back to bite it,” said Robert Percival, a University of Maryland environmental law professor.
Environmental groups have slammed the proposed repeal as a danger to the climate. Future U.S. administrations seeking to regulate greenhouse gas emissions likely would need to reinstate the endangerment finding, a task that could be politically and legally complex.
But environmental groups are confident that the courts will continue their track record of backing the EPA’s authority to use the Clean Air Act to regulate greenhouse gases.
Several environmental groups, including the Natural Resources Defense Council and Earthjustice, have said they will challenge the reversal in court, setting off what could be a years-long legal battle up to the Supreme Court.
“There’ll be a lawsuit brought almost immediately, and we’ll see in them in court. And we will win,” said David Doniger, senior attorney at the NRDC.
The Turkish central bank lifted its year-end inflation forecast to the 15%-21% range, while keeping its interim target at the same level of 16%, its governor announced on Thursday, while emphasizing the monetary authority’s tight stance to ensure the continuation of the disinflation process.
Central Bank of the Republic of Türkiye (CBRT) Governor Fatih Karahan said in the first inflation report this year that developments show that the bank has to maintain a tight stance and that the bank was ready to use all policy tools for disinflation.
The bank lifted the forecast range for this year from the earlier announced 13% to 19%. It also left its end-2027 interim target at 9%, in a forecast range of 6%-12%. Meanwhile, it set the end-2028 interim target at 8%.
Last August, the CBRT for the first time introduced the interim targets. The bank appears to be seeking to avoid adjusting its targets, even as forecasts can change.
Presenting the central bank’s quarterly inflation report in Istanbul, Karahan said the adjustment to the range was caused by a change in data calculations, energy prices and food prices.
Food prices impact
It also comes after a jump in monthly inflation in January due to price adjustments at the start of the year. Karahan, in his presentation, particularly highlighted the impact of food prices, specifically vegetable prices, on the reading.
Last month, consumer price inflation surged nearly 5% month-over-month, while on an annual basis, it eased to 30.65%, marking the lowest since late 2021.
“As you know, food prices are significantly affected by supply-side developments related to weather conditions. In January, developments in vegetable prices were particularly noteworthy in this regard,” he said.
“Vegetable prices, which had fallen sharply in November due to temperatures exceeding seasonal averages, rose significantly in January following unfavorable weather conditions,” he added.
“The impact of this development will extend into February,” Karahan suggested, pointing out, however, that with the supply conditions normalizing in the second quarter, they expected these effects “to reverse to a certain extent.”
Starting his speech, he said that tight monetary policy “gradually yielded results in 2025,” while also evaluating the global and domestic economic outlook.
Global developments
On the global side, he mentioned that they continued to monitor developments related to precious metal prices, adding that non-energy commodity prices “maintained their upward trend despite recent volatility.”
He also suggested that developed countries’ monetary policies are closely monitored due to their wide-ranging effects.
“The Fed is expected to keep cutting rates in 2026, but the amount and timing of these cuts are still uncertain. On the other hand, markets are pricing a tighter monetary policy by the Bank of Japan,” he noted.
Domestic outlook
Moreover, addressing the domestic picture, he once again underscored the impact of services inflation on the headline inflation, reiterating that “the high level of services inflation was driven by rents and education in 2025.”
Pointing to the price adjustment regulations in education, he said that the regulation-implied figures for 2026 indicate that there is “a certain room for disinflation on the education side.”
Moreover, he said that the contribution of consumption to growth receded significantly in the first three quarters of 2025 compared to the same period of 2023, while the contribution of investment increased.
“While the contribution of net exports turned negative during this period amid global trade uncertainties of 2025, there is a more balanced picture compared to the pre-tightening period,” he added.
The governor also said that demand conditions “continue to support the disinflation process, albeit to a lesser extent,” and that they expected this disinflationary outlook to last in 2026.
Monetary stance
“We stand ready to tighten our monetary policy stance in case of a significant deviation in the inflation outlook from the interim targets,” Karahan also said in his closely followed speech.
Last month, the central bank lowered its key interest rate by a less-than-expected 100 basis points to 37%, citing firming inflation, pricing behavior and expectations that threaten the disinflation process. It was the fifth consecutive easing move since last summer.
On Thursday, Karahan said that they reviewed the step size and delivered a limited cut of 100 basis points, bringing the policy rate to 37%.
He suggested that they take into account “the aspects, which are temporary or outside the scope of the monetary policy, as second-round effects from the expectations channel.”
He appeared firm in delivering the message that disinflation would continue in spite of temporary fluctuations.
“Therefore, we are decisively maintaining our tight monetary policy stance to ensure the continuation of the disinflation process in line with targets,” he added.
“We have always reiterated that during the disinflation process, we will maintain our tight monetary policy stance to achieve our interim targets,” he also said as part of his remarks.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Thursday called for stronger transport integration among members of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), suggesting that effective and reliable networks are essential to unlocking the Islamic world’s economic potential.
In a video message to an OIC transport ministers meeting held in Istanbul, Erdoğan said that Muslim countries span a vast geography stretching from Asia to Africa and Europe to the Middle East, commanding natural corridors, a dynamic young population and fast-growing markets.
“However, to fully realize this great potential and transform geographical advantages into strategic power, we need efficient, reliable and integrated transport networks,” he said.
Erdoğan said stronger links among highways, railways, ports and airports would boost not only trade but also social and cultural interaction among member states.
Highlighting Türkiye’s recent large-scale infrastructure projects, such as the Marmaray, Eurasia Tunnel and major bridges, he said the country has reinforced global trade routes and expanded its rail, maritime and aviation capacity.
Moreover, the president also said that through Türkiye’s support for the Trans-Caspian East-West Middle Corridor Project, the country has revived the historic Silk Road with a modern vision.
“However, we do not evaluate these investments solely within a national framework,” he said. “Our goal is to strengthen integration with member states of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, develop cross-border corridors, and generate added value through joint projects.”
Erdoğan noted that constructive negotiations held during the conference had led to significant steps.
“We have made important decisions to create a road map that will strengthen transport links among member states, increase solidarity on international platforms, and prepare a transport connectivity strategy document under Türkiye’s (OIC) term presidency,” the president said.
“Undoubtedly, in order for these decisions to be implemented effectively, it is important that technical meetings are not disrupted and that monitoring mechanisms are operated meticulously.”
“We believe that the will we have demonstrated today will pave the way for this,” he added.
The 2nd Conference of Ministers of Transport of the OIC, to which Erdoğan sent a video message, was held under the chairmanship of Transport and Infrastructure Minister Abdulkadir Uraloğlu, with the participation of ministers from OIC member states.
Speaking at the conference, Uraloğlu stated that they were holding the conference in Istanbul after a 40-year hiatus and expressed his hope that the meeting would yield beneficial results for member countries and the entire Islamic world.
Noting that the world economy, trade routes, production centers, and transportation technologies have undergone a deep transformation in the nearly 40 years that have passed, Uraloğlu noted that this transformation has made cooperation in the field of transportation “more strategic than ever.”
“This cooperation, which we are carrying out under the umbrella of the OIC, represents an important foundation that strengthens solidarity and mutual trust among member countries,” he said.
Britain’s economy barely expanded in the final quarter of 2025 as activity fared worse than initially estimated during the run-up to Treasury chief Rachel Reeves’ budget, official figures showed on Thursday.
Gross domestic product (GDP) grew by a mere 0.1% in the October-to-December period, the same slow pace as in the third quarter, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said.
Economists polled by Reuters, as well as the Bank of England (BoE), had forecast 0.2% fourth-quarter growth compared with the previous three months.
The period was marked by rampant speculation about tax increases ahead of Reeves’ budget on Nov. 26. The ONS revised down monthly GDP data for the three months to November to show a 0.1% contraction rather than 0.1% growth.
Some more recent data have suggested that uncertainty has lifted for consumers and businesses.
“Looking at various surveys, there were some tentative signs that sentiment turned a corner and started to improve after the budget last year, which could help deliver a pick-up in activity this year,” Luke Bartholomew, deputy chief economist at Aberdeen, said.
‘Political uncertainty’
“However, recent political uncertainty may see that sentiment bounce reverse.”
Prime Minister Keir Starmer has had to fight to keep his grip on Downing Street this week due to fallout from the Jeffrey Epstein scandal.
Thursday’s figures underscored why investors think that the Bank of England is more likely than not to cut interest rates again in March.
The monthly GDP data showed a sharp downward revision to growth.
The data suggested hesitancy on the part of businesses during the fourth quarter as their investment fell by almost 3% – the biggest quarter-on-quarter drop since early 2021, driven largely by volatile transport investment.
Economist Thomas Pugh at tax and consultancy firm RSM said the overall weakness in business investment suggested budget uncertainty held back investment and spending.
Manufacturing was the biggest driver of the increase in output, despite the fact that car output was still recovering from September’s cyber attack on Jaguar Land Rover, while the dominant services sector was flat. Construction output contracted by 2.1%.
In 2025 as a whole, Britain’s economy grew by an annual average 1.3%, the Office for National Statistics said, compared with 0.9% in France, 0.7% in Italy and 0.4% in Germany.
British economic growth per head contracted by 0.1% for the second quarter, although it rose by 1.0% for 2025 as a whole.
In December alone, the economy grew by 0.1%, the ONS said, as expected in the Reuters poll. That left the size of the economy back at its level of June 2025.
Argentina edged closer on Thursday to approving labor reforms that have led to clashes between workers and police in the streets outside Congress.
The reforms, a pet project of budget-slashing President Javier Milei, would make it easier to hire and fire workers, reduce severance pay, limit the right to strike and restrict holiday rights.
Critics say the move will make jobs more precarious in a country where almost 40% of workers lack formal employment contracts.
The Senate voted 42-30 early Thursday to pass the reform, which will now head to the Chamber of Deputies for approval.
It came a day after demonstrators in the capital Buenos Aires hurled stones and bottle bombs at police who responded with tear gas and rubber bullets.
A few dozen people, many hooded and masked, clashed with police blocking access to the parliament, as lawmakers inside the building debated the plans.
Agence France-Presse (AFP) witnessed injuries to one police officer and one protester, though an official toll has yet to be made public. Media at the scene estimated that at least 20 people were arrested.
Milei has insisted that existing labor laws are too restrictive and discourage formal hiring. He wants the reforms adopted by March.
‘Exploitative’
“Today we are here to decide whether we remain trapped in a statist, corporate and patronage-based system that has driven away investment, destroyed jobs and impoverished millions of Argentinians,” Joaquin Benegas Lynch, a ruling party senator, told Wednesday’s debate.
But for protester Federico Pereira, a 35-year-old sociologist, “with this exploitative labor reform, they are only thinking about the wealthy. Those who benefit are the bosses.”
Since taking office in December 2023 with a plan to revitalize Argentina’s struggling economy, Milei has slashed government spending and spurred deregulation.
Opposition parties and unions dispute that the reforms will create new jobs.
They point out that the economy shows persistent signs of stagnation, marked by declining consumption and industrial activity.
Security Minister Alejandra Monteoliva vowed that those responsible for Wednesday’s violence “will be identified” and punished appropriately.
“They are dozens of members of leftist groups who acted in an organized manner, with premeditated violence and improvised weapons to… sow chaos. They will pay,” she said on X.
President Donald Trump is privately discussing the possibility of withdrawing from the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, Bloomberg reported Wednesday, citing officials familiar with the matter, a move that could inject fresh uncertainty into upcoming renegotiations of the trilateral trade deal.
Officials who spoke to the news organization on condition of anonymity about the internal discussions said the president has asked aides why he should not renounce the pact he made during his first term, but he has stopped short of signaling he would do so.
When questioned about the talks, a White House official characterized Trump as the final arbiter and someone who is constantly looking for a better bargain for the American people. Any discussion of possible action before the president made an announcement was nothing more than unfounded conjecture, according to the official.
A representative in U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer’s office said the administration planned to keep Trump’s options open and engage in negotiations to resolve identified flaws, saying that approving the 2019 terms was not in the best interests of the country.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, both officials refrained from openly addressing whether Trump was considering leaving the trade agreement. Greer stated Tuesday that the administration would have separate discussions with Canada and Mexico, citing the more tense trade relations with Canada. He made no mention of Trump’s approval of an extension.
The USMCA took the place of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which governed commerce between the three nations since 1994 but was criticized by Trump during his initial presidential campaign. Trump vowed to withdraw from NAFTA before accepting the revised agreement, which included a sunset clause that required a renegotiation this summer and tighter regulations and increased U.S. car content standards.
On July 1, the USMCA will undergo a mandated review prior to a potential extension. The procedure, which was first anticipated to be routine, has turned into a heated negotiation. Trump has put pressure on Ottawa and Mexico City to address unrelated matters like defense, migration and drug trafficking, in addition to demanding additional trade concessions.
Stricter rules of origin for important industrial goods, improved cooperation on crucial minerals, worker safeguards and dumping are all areas of potential concern, an official stated, adding that Greer will suggest a renewal if a settlement integrating input from industry stakeholders can be reached.
The agreement would be in effect for an additional 16 years if the nations consented to a renewal. But if that does not occur, it can lead to yearly reviews for 10 years, until the agreement expires in 2036. Any nation could give six months’ notice before announcing its intention to leave.
The treaty covers almost $2 trillion in products and services, so such a move would rock the foundations of one of the biggest economic relationships in the world. Even the prospect of a U.S. withdrawal would make investors and world leaders more uneasy.
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