Lise calls for COP31 to connect climate, biodiversity and land degradation

What happened

Yıldıray Lise, deputy general manager of Doğa Koruma Merkezi, has urged COP31 in Antalya to tighten connections among work on climate change, biodiversity loss and land degradation. Speaking on COP31 Yolu, a programme produced by İklim Haber and Medyascope and presented by Barış Doğru, he said these pressures should not be considered separately.

Lise referred to the three conventions that emerged from the 1992 Rio Summit: the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Convention to Combat Desertification. In his view, their agendas were historically pursued in separate tracks, but attention is now turning to coordinated measures, aligned monitoring and potentially shared financial arrangements.

He described this closer alignment, often termed Rio synergy, as a significant action area for COP31. His immediate message for organisations is that emissions reduction should be accompanied by faster adaptation planning and by biodiversity considerations in the landscapes where they operate.

Why it matters

Lise said Türkiye needs to incorporate biodiversity across economic activity, not limit the issue to protected sites and species-focused initiatives. He highlighted production landscapes, including forests, farmland and other landscapes, as settings where sustainability and biodiversity integration are important. He also called for sustainable land management to be addressed nationwide in response to land degradation.

For forestry, agriculture and tourism, Lise identified adaptation to climate change as particularly important. He said climate policy has predominantly concentrated on reducing emissions, while adaptation efforts need to gather pace. Nature-based solutions can be one useful tool in that work, he added.

The argument links the three environmental challenges operationally: land and production decisions can affect biodiversity, while climate impacts increase the need for adaptation across exposed sectors. Lise’s intervention therefore places implementation, rather than strategy alone, at the centre of the COP31 discussion.

What to watch at COP31

Lise said the shift from consensus to concrete action is an important COP31 theme. Progress would mean that commitments associated with emissions cuts are matched by action on adaptation, while the three Rio conventions pursue more integrated ways of working.

For businesses and public bodies, the areas highlighted by Lise are biodiversity in production landscapes, sustainable land management and adaptation in climate-exposed sectors. COP31 discussions may indicate whether coordination across these themes moves beyond common objectives towards joint action, monitoring and financing approaches.