The UN climate conference COP31 opens today in Türkiye, a host country whose government has faced sustained criticism over its democratic record. The conference follows a contest between Australia and Türkiye over hosting rights, settled by a compromise reached in November last year during talks in Antalya. Australia's Chris Bowen presided over those negotiations, which ended the dispute and set the stage for the gathering.
The political backdrop in Türkiye is a central concern for observers. Judicial intervention has split the main opposition party, the Republican People's Party (CHP), and Democrats and secularists associated with it have moved into a new party, Yeni Parti, led by Özgür Özel. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has held power for about two decades, and critics argue that democratic safeguards have eroded during that time.
A particular point of contention is a non-interference clause that has been reintroduced at COP31. The clause was controversial at previous negotiations, and its reappearance has prompted questions about how it might be applied. Critics warn that it could shield prosecutions of opposition figures, and could also cover the pace of Türkiye's decarbonisation and the arrests of environmental activists. Whether the clause will in practice be applied to critics of the government remains an open question.
İhsan Yılmaz, a political scientist at Deakin University, views the split in the opposition as Erdoğan's latest political move. Yılmaz's assessment places the party divisions within a broader pattern of the government's management of its political rivals, and it is the context in which the conference is now taking place.
Another open question is whether Erdoğan will use COP31 to strengthen his country's image on the global stage. Hosting a major international forum offers a government an opportunity to present itself as a responsible participant in international climate policy, even as domestic criticism continues. How the conference unfolds, and whether the non-interference clause is invoked, will shape how the event is judged both inside Türkiye and abroad.