Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres welcomed world leaders attending the 31st Conference of the Parties (COP31) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in Antalya on Wednesday, before posing for an official family photograph.

The leaders were individually welcomed by Erdoğan and Guterres at the Antalya Expo Center, where the summit is being held under Türkiye's presidency.

Following the official welcoming ceremony, participating heads of state and government gathered for a family photograph before proceeding to the summit's opening session.

Ahead of the summit, Erdoğan and Guterres also planted olive saplings at the venue to mark Türkiye's Nov. 11 National Afforestation Day.

Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change Minister Murat Kurum and Agriculture and Forestry Minister İbrahim Yumaklı attended the tree-planting ceremony.

Addressing the COP31 Leaders' Summit, Erdoğan called for stronger international cooperation to tackle climate change, describing the conference as an opportunity to establish a new turning point in global efforts to address environmental challenges.

Welcoming participants to Antalya, Erdoğan thanked the UN secretary-general for his support and acknowledged the contributions of Brazil and Azerbaijan, which previously hosted COP summits.

He said environmental protection was a common value shared by ancient civilizations and religions, stressing that humanity had only one planet to protect.

"Our home has only one roof, and that is the sky; our home has only one garden, and that is the earth," Erdoğan said, warning that the world was facing serious challenges, including global warming, biodiversity loss, excessive consumption of natural resources, threats to food security and increasingly destructive climate-related disasters.

He stressed that Türkiye was pursuing its green development agenda while restructuring various sectors of its economy to reduce carbon emissions.

"From energy to industry, transportation to agriculture, we are restructuring all our sectors along a decarbonisation path and embracing the green transition throughout our economy," he said.

Erdoğan reiterated Türkiye's commitment to achieving its 2053 net-zero emissions target, adding that environmental considerations were being incorporated into the country's development objectives and energy security policies.

The Turkish president also highlighted the progress of the Zero Waste initiative launched under the leadership of First Lady Emine Erdoğan in 2017.

He said Türkiye's national recycling rate had increased from approximately 13% when the initiative was launched to nearly 40% by the end of 2025.

Erdoğan outlined Türkiye's priorities for COP31, saying the country aimed to achieve tangible progress in 10 key areas, including clean energy transformation, zero waste, food security, industrial development, climate-resilient cities and ocean protection.

He also called for increasing electricity consumption, reducing waste generation and expanding the use of recycled materials in industry over the next decade.

Emphasising the need for climate justice, Erdoğan called on developed countries to assume greater responsibility for tackling climate change, particularly by providing financial and technological assistance to developing nations.

He said climate financing should become more accessible, predictable and responsive to the needs of vulnerable countries, especially least-developed nations and small island developing states.

The president also stressed that countries that had historically consumed the largest share of the global carbon budget should take greater responsibility for reducing emissions and providing climate finance.

Erdoğan further referred to the environmental destruction in Gaza, saying the Israeli genocidal campaign had caused not only a humanitarian catastrophe but also an ecological disaster.

He said centuries-old olive trees had been uprooted, soil and water resources polluted, and entire cities reduced to rubble.

Drawing attention to the humanitarian situation in the Palestinian enclave, he called for the immediate entry of humanitarian assistance and an end to restrictions imposed on the population.

Erdoğan warned that the international community could not escape responsibility for the suffering of civilians, particularly children, in Gaza.

He concluded by stressing that leaving a cleaner, greener and fairer world to future generations was among humanity's most important responsibilities.

The Antalya Leaders' Summit is being held on Nov. 11-12 as part of COP31, bringing together heads of state and government to discuss international climate commitments, financing, energy transition and environmental sustainability. (ILKHA)