When COP31 opens in Antalya in just over 100 days, Türkiye will have an opportunity to focus attention on one of climate action’s greatest implementation blind spots: its failure to reach people living through conflict, fragility and the difficult transition to recovery.
Türkiye has framed COP31 as an "implementation COP," one focused on turning the commitments made under the Paris Agreement, signed back in 2015, into actions and ensuring that "no one is left behind."
Nowhere is the need for climate action greater than in fragile and conflict-affected countries. These places, including several in Türkiye’s backyard, such as Iraq, Lebanon, Palestine and Yemen, consistently rank as among the world’s most climate-vulnerable. This is because conflict and weak institutions have eroded the infrastructure, services and social systems that people rely on to prepare for, and recover from, floods, droughts and heatwaves.
Yet these same conditions often deter investments. Climate funds and development partners frequently perceive fragile contexts as too "risky" to invest and work in, resulting in a widening gap between needs and support. In 2024, the world's most fragile countries received just 28% of the climate finance they estimate is needed to adapt to a changing climate.
