A senior Turkish official has framed climate change as an existential security threat, urging wealthy nations to prioritize far greater financial commitments than the current defense spending benchmarks. Speaking at a Pacific pre-COP summit in Fiji, the president-designate of the upcoming UN climate summit argued that climate action demands resources on par with military defense budgets. However, the remarks sparked debate after the official suggested avoiding a renewed push for a global phase-out of fossil fuels—a key demand in past climate agreements—when negotiations resume in Turkey. The stance highlights deep divisions over how aggressively to address the root causes of the climate crisis.
‘The climate issue is the security issue,’ says Turkish minister at Pacific pre-Cop summit in FijiWealthy countries should spend far more on dealing with the climate crisis than the 5% of GDP promised by Nato members for defence because “the climate issue is the security issue”, the host of the next UN summit has said.But, in comments that are likely to prove contentious, the Cop31 president-designate, Murat Kurum, hedged on whether countries should try to repeat a previous agreement to “transition away from fossil fuels” – the primary cause of the climate crisis – when they meet in Turkey next month. Continue reading...
