COP31 Presidency launches Marine Litter Action Platform in Trabzon
Baku, October 2, AZERTAC
Türkiye’s COP31 Presidency has called for stronger international cooperation to accelerate action on oceans and seas, as leaders from government, international organisations, academia, civil society and the private sector gathered in Trabzon to help shape the agenda ahead of COP31 in Antalya, according to COP31 Presidency.
At the summit, the Presidency launched the COP31 Marine Litter Action Platform, aimed at helping proven solutions scale across countries and regions by connecting projects with knowledge, technical support, and finance. The Platform is an important part of the COP31 President’s work on its Action Agenda “Oceans and Seas” priority.
Countries and organisations around the world are already taking action on marine litter, but knowledge, successful approaches, and financing opportunities remain fragmented. The Marine Litter Action Platform is designed to close that gap by working across three pillars.
First, it will create a knowledge sharing network so that successful projects and technical approaches can be exchanged. Second, it will create a digital monitoring dashboard to provide an inventory and map-based overview of marine litter actions across countries and regions to increase the visibility of successful actions. Third, it will connect marine litter projects with financial and technical support, to form stronger and quicker connections between project developers and potential partners.
The Platform connects two of the COP31 Presidency’s priorities – Oceans and Seas and Zero Waste Blue – building on Türkiye’s experience through its Zero Waste initiative, led by H.E. Mrs. Emine Erdoğan, First Lady of Republic of Türkiye, and reflecting the close links between waste, oceans and seas, and climate.
At the Summit, the COP31 Presidency also issued the Trabzon Call to Consensus, Dialogue and Action, which committed to tangible and implementable outcomes on oceans and seas at COP31, and called for greater mobilization of resources from all sources to accelerate action on this vital topic.
Oceans and seas are a key priority for the COP31 Presidency, and play a key role as carbon sinks. The impacts of climate change threaten ocean and coastal ecosystems, as well as the livelihoods of the communities that depend on them. In turn, damage to these ecosystems can reduce their capacity to absorb carbon, creating a feedback loop of worsening climate change and climate impacts.
Türkiye is working with Australia, Pacific Island countries, and the wider oceans and seas community to bring different regional and international perspectives and solutions into the COP31 agenda. The Trabzon summit marks the next step in that effort, bringing partners together to move from ambition to implementation, and also draws attention to the unique climate impacts on the Black Sea.
The summit featured a high-level meeting of governments and international organisations to discuss oceans, climate and the blue economy, focused on delivering practical solutions to scaling up blue finance and supporting resilience. Mr Kurum, endorsing the points raised at the meeting regarding the Blue NDC, stated that work would be carried out on this matter.
The work advanced at Trabzon will continue through UN General Assembly, New York Climate Week, Pre-COP in Fiji, including a special leaders’ component in Tuvalu, and into COP31 in Antalya in November.
Ahead of the summit, a youth event was held on 9 September 2026, bringing together climate volunteers and climate ambassadors from different countries. As part of the programme, participants took part in field visits and joint activities in Trabzon, exchanging experiences and perspectives on climate action, the protection of oceans and seas, and environmental sustainability, while strengthening the role of young people in the COP31 process. COP31 messages from young leaders were also shared as part of the event.
Opening the two-day COP31 Ocean and Seas Summit, COP31 President-Designate Murat Kurum called on governments and partners to accelerate ocean-climate action through stronger international cooperation, better access to science and data, sustainable blue economy practices and wider access to blue finance.
Speaking in Trabzon, COP31 President-Designate and Türkiye’s Minister of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change, Murat Kurum, said: “At the end of these two days, we want to leave with concrete, practical and shared outcomes. Outcomes that can be implemented and carried forward on the road to COP31.”
“Protecting the oceans is a responsibility we all share. We call on every party to turn that responsibility into bold, concrete action: restoring ecosystems and building resilience.”
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