COP31 preparations turn farmland into parking lots

Preparations for the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP31) that Turkey will host in Antalya in 2026 have revealed an ironic paradox. Within the scope of infrastructure work for this global summit—a symbol of the search for solutions to the climate crisis—natural trees and fertile agricultural soil on the EXPO fairground and land belonging to the Western Mediterranean Agricultural Research Institute (BATEM) in Antalya are being converted into parking lots and other facilities. BATEM is an important part of Turkey's agricultural research infrastructure and has been conducting sustainable farming work in the region for decades. The allocation of these lands for such purposes creates a contradiction in which a conference organized in the name of combating climate change is directly destroying natural and agricultural areas. Residents and farmers in the region are expressing serious concerns about fertile soils that have been cultivated for many years being permanently diverted from their intended use.