ISTANBUL

Setting an example for the international media, Anadolu Agency, Türkiye’s leading news provider, is organizing an Environment Forum this Thursday in Istanbul to raise awareness of the climate crisis and environmental issues.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will send a video message to the opening of the forum, which will be held at Istanbul Renaissance Polat Hotel with the main theme of “Reshaping the Narrative of Environmental and Climate Crises.”

Also set to address the event are Türkiye’s Communications Director Fahrettin Altun (via video), along with Serdar Karagoz, Anadolu Agency's director general and chairman, UNDP Türkiye Resident Representative Louisa Vinton, and Ovais Sarmad, deputy executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

The forum, in which representatives of many local and foreign NGOs and international organizations, politicians, academics, and journalists will speak, will be moderated by Yusuf Ozhan, Anadolu Agency’s deputy director general and editor-in-chief, under the title of “Media Responsibility on Climate Change.”

The forum will feature sessions on “Clean Energy for Sustainable Development,” “The Media’s Approach to Natural Disasters,” and “Climate Crisis and Responsibility Sharing” and issues such as climate change, energy, the media's view of climate change, and environmental education.

Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay, and the Turkish environment, urbanization, and climate change minister, Murat Kurum, will also address the event.

Turkish first lady Emine Erdogan, who since 2017 has spearheaded the nation’s Zero Waste project, is expected to deliver a closing speech.

The event aims to tackle issues such as the need to create a new media language on environmental and climate issues, international news agencies raising global awareness, the duties of traditional and new media outlets, and the pursuit of environmental awareness in new news areas.

“We aim to redefine the relationship between media and environment by creating a medium for environmental experts to voice their opinions and discuss solutions,” according to the forum’s website.

The Environment Forum can be followed live by registering at its website at environment.aa.com.tr.

On April 1, Anadolu Agency launched Türkiye's first Environmental Editorial Unit to raise social awareness of climate change and environmental issues.

The Istanbul-based Greenline unit deals with many issues in the field of the environment, such as climate change, global warming, pollution, zero waste, recycling, sustainability, and green energy.