COP31 co-host Türkiye on Friday called on member states of the Developing Eight Organization for Economic Cooperation (D-8) to strengthen cooperation, saying the bloc's collective weight gives it a transformative role in the global climate agenda.
"The D-8 family, with its geography stretching from Asia to Africa and the Middle East and a population exceeding 1 billion, has a special place and transformative power in the global climate agenda," Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change Minister Murat Kurum said.
Kurum was speaking at a meeting of D-8 in Istanbul, which gathered environment and climate ministers and senior officials from Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan and Azerbaijan as Türkiye prepares to host this year's U.N.-sponsored climate talks.
"The common will to be demonstrated by the D-8 is of particular importance for COP31's implementation-oriented approach," Kurum, who's also the COP31 president, said.
The conference will start on Nov. 9 in Antalya, southern Türkiye, while Australia will oversee the formal negotiations.
