The comments were made during the high-level proceedings of the Cop31 summit on Wednesday. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan delivered an address assessing the severity of global environmental changes for human civilization. The president pointed to these global conditions as an unprecedented threat facing the entire world.
Key points
Turkey utilized the Cop31 summit platform to highlight the extreme severity of global env…: Turkey utilized the Cop31 summit platform to highlight the extreme severity of global environmental changes.
The address represents a formal diplomatic warning from the Turkish presidency to interna…: The address represents a formal diplomatic warning from the Turkish presidency to international summit attendees.
Global leadership gatherings continue to serve as the primary forum for top-level climate…: Global leadership gatherings continue to serve as the primary forum for top-level climate assessments.
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This is an entry from: Live: Erdogan tells Cop31 developed countries must do more to finance climate crisis action
Erdogan: Climate change is one of the 'deepest existential crises' in humanity's history
11 November 2026 11:53 GMT
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has told the Cop31 summit that climate change is "one of the deepest existential crises" in humanity's history.
"I want to say this very clearly: we have no other sky, no other Earth, no other seas, oceans or forests," Erdogan said in a speech on Wednesday at the opening of the leaders' summit at the UN conference, which is being held in Turkey.
"Yet today, driven in part by the greed of excessive consumption, humanity is experiencing perhaps one of the deepest existential crises in its history," Turkey's president said.
Addressing international delegates in Antalya, the Turkish leader linked environmental destruction directly to armed conflict while demanding unhindered humanitarian access for displaced populations. He also called on wealthy, industrialized countries to fulfill lagging financial pledges to help vulnerable regions confront severe global warming. These remarks set an urgent tone as nearly 200 nations gather to negotiate clean energy targets amidst escalating geopolitical tensions.
Global emissions reached historic highs in 2025 as consecutive record-breaking temperatures push the planet past the Paris Agreement's 1.5-degree warming threshold. The gathering in Antalya faces significant diplomatic hurdles, with most major industrialized powers failing to send top leadership despite worsening international weather catastrophes. Meanwhile, regional conflicts disrupting global petroleum supplies continue to underscore the broader economic risks tied directly to hydrocarbon dependence.
An exceptionally strong polar vortex trapped frigid air over Antarctica, driving the seasonal ozone depletion to its seventh-largest extent in 48 years of monitoring. Scientists from NASA and NOAA confirmed that unusual meteorological conditions, rather than a resurgence in banned pollutants, caused the temporary surge. Decades of global restrictions on harmful chemicals continue to mitigate the severity, leaving the stratospheric shield on track to recover later this century.