The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) just finalized a groundbreaking deal with the host of the 2026 COP31, Turkey and its all going towards climate policy.
According to a report that tracks financial need, there needs to be an additional $68 billion pledged to climate investment by 2030, and around half from private sources, according to the bank.
Their comments came on the fourth day of the two-week UN climate conference being held in Antalya for those unaware.
According to Reuters, “the agreement will support the implementation of Turkey’s Climate Law, and will cover fiscal policy, financial regulation and sectoral planning. Moreover the plan is also to cut planet-warming emissions, which includes an interim target for 2035 and aims to achieve net zero by 2053.”
Its also being said that the money will help scale sustainable finance, accelerate decarbonisation and boost climate resilience efforts across the country of 86 million people as global warming drives drought, floods and wildfires.
According to the AIIB Chief Investment Officer, Konstantin Limitovskiy, “this financing represents AIIB’s largest climate policy-based financing package to date, and we look forward to contributing to Türkiye delivering on its climate ambitions.”
For reference, in 2025 the financing was $7.47 billion.
What Will The Financial Support Fund?
Part of it will go towards helping the country scale its nascent emissions trading scheme, (under which companies in high-emitting sectors will receive and trade allowances.)
But thats not all, a domestic carbon price could help exporters to the European Union in sectors such as steel and cement, as carbon costs paid in Turkey can be taken into account under the bloc’s carbon border levy on emissions embedded in certain imported products.
Programme targets include getting at least 180 facilities reporting baseline emissions under the scheme by April 2027 and securing production licences for 1,800 megawatts of wind and solar capacity by early 2027.
Moreover, the plan also aims to help 225,000 farmers in water-stressed basins switch to less water-intensive crops by 2028 and to have 50,000 hectares (124,000 acres) designated as carbon sinks — where land absorbs climate-damaging carbon — by 2028.
