Wealthy countries should allocate considerably more funds to addressing the climate crisis than the 5% of GDP pledged by Nato members for defence, according to Murat Kurum, the Cop31 president-designate. Kurum, who is Turkey's climate change minister, stated that "the climate issue is the security issue itself."
Kurum's comments, made to the Guardian, suggest that spending on climate action before disasters occur is more cost-effective. He argued that if one unit of money is not spent prior to a disaster, ten units may be required afterwards.
However, Kurum was less definitive on whether the upcoming Cop31 summit in Turkey next month should aim to repeat a previous agreement to "transition away from fossil fuels." He indicated that the world is "already in a transition" and that fossil fuel use might be addressed through other means, rather than focusing on specific wording about transitioning away from them.
Kurum and Australia's climate change minister, Chris Bowen, stated their intention to seek support at Cop31 for a global goal of 35% of energy coming from electricity by 2035, an increase from the current 21%.