COP31 Israel exclusion: Turkey did not invite leaders

The COP31 Israel exclusion became clear this week, as Turkey said it did not invite Israeli leaders to its climate summit in Antalya.

Murat Kurum, Turkey’s environment minister and president of the talks, blamed the killings of Palestinians in Gaza.

What Turkey said about the COP31 Israel exclusion

Turkish media carried the minister’s remarks in full. Kurum told them that Turkey, as host of the leaders’ summit, sent Israel no invitation. He added that delegates will debate climate justice in Antalya.

“There can be no climate justice where peace does not prevail,” he said.

Roughly 90 leaders are meeting in Antalya on the Mediterranean coast for the two-day high-level segment. In that part of the fortnight-long conference, they speak to delegates and hold meetings meant to drive climate action.

Israel’s absence and the COP31 Israel exclusion

Israel belongs to the UNFCCC, the UN climate convention whose members attend the yearly summits. No Israeli delegation showed up in Antalya, though Iranian officials sat in the lobby.

However, neither Israel nor the UN climate body has said whether lower-level Israeli delegates will join the negotiations. Most members also ratified the 2015 Paris agreement on tackling climate change. Israeli ministers did not publicly reply to Kurum’s remarks.

An Israeli media report last month said officials would probably skip the conference because of “security concerns and diplomatic isolation”. A foreign ministry official there gave no immediate response to a request for comment.

Palestine’s presence at COP31

Kurum’s remarks leave open whether lower-level Israeli negotiators can still attend, since Israel belongs to the convention. The Palestinian pavilion drew crowds hunting for lapel pins in the shape of the Palestinian flag. Banners displayed photo montages of destruction in Gaza, and hosts in traditional dress welcomed guests.

Zaghloul Samhan, who chairs the Palestinian Environment Quality Authority, called the refusal to invite Israel “a political issue, not a technical issue”. He said Turkey made the decision.

He also recalled that, in a separate case, the US refused to give Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas a visa for the UN General Assembly in New York in September.

The US is also missing

Also, Washington does not attend COP31 either. President Donald Trump pulled the US out of the UN climate convention and the Paris Agreement earlier this year, and out of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Trump has called climate change “the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world” and has pressed to expand fossil fuel output.

Meanwhile, Greenpeace Israel said that although the country is missing from the summit, decisions made there will shape Israelis’ futures. It called the conference a key tool where governments decide on emission cuts and on paying for preparation against climate damage. The group said the conflict with Iran has exposed the dangers of dependence on oil.

For now, the COP31 Israel exclusion shows how the Gaza war has reached climate diplomacy. Also, the COP31 Israel exclusion leaves open who, if anyone, will speak for Israel in the talks.