UN Türkiye Session at the Global Youth Summit for Sustainability 2026

Distinguished Rector of Bahçeşehir University,

Esteemed representatives of UNITAR, CIFAL Istanbul, and the Youth Center for Dialogue and Peace,

Dear colleagues from the United Nations system,

And most importantly, dear students and young leaders,

It is a great pleasure to be with you today at Bahçeşehir University, a place that represents not only academic excellence, but also innovation, global citizenship, and the ambition to shape a more sustainable future.

We are meeting at a time when the world feels increasingly unstable. Climate change, biodiversity loss, inequality, rapid urbanization, and technological disruption are converging in ways that no generation has experienced before. These are not distant or theoretical challenges. They are already shaping your daily lives, how you move through your city, what you study, what kind of jobs will exist when you graduate, and even how safe and liveable your neighbourhoods will be.

Let me start with a simple observation from recent years.

In Türkiye and across many parts of the world, we have seen how quickly “normal” weather patterns are changing. One day, cities experience intense rainfall that overwhelms drainage systems and turns streets into temporary rivers. A few weeks later, the same cities face extreme heatwaves where public spaces become difficult to use during the day, and energy demand for cooling reaches record levels.

Now ask yourself: when both flooding and heat become part of the same seasonal reality, what does “urban planning” actually mean? And more importantly, are we still designing our cities for the climate we remember or for the climate we are already living?

These are not abstract planning questions. They are questions about everyday life, equity, and opportunity.

Because climate change is not only about rising temperatures. It is about who gets protected when systems fail and who does not.

I remember speaking with young people after major flood events, where some told me something very simple but very powerful: “We did not think this would happen here.” That sentence is becoming increasingly common across the world. And it reflects a deeper challenge, not just of infrastructure, but of imagination.

Another example comes from agriculture. In several regions, young people are watching their families struggle with shifting rainfall patterns and unpredictable harvests. Some are making the difficult decision to leave rural areas not because they want to, but because climate uncertainty is reshaping livelihoods that once felt stable and inherited.

Dear Friends, 

So let me ask you directly:

• If the place you call home becomes more difficult to live in every year, what choices would you make?
• If your career path depends on the stability of ecosystems, how do you plan for uncertainty?
• And perhaps most importantly: what kind of future are we designing if young people feel they must adapt individually to systemic failure, rather than shape the systems themselves?

This is why climate change is not only an environmental issue. It is a development issue, a justice issue, and a question of intergenerational fairness.

And it is precisely here that the principle of Leaving No One Behind becomes critical. Because in every climate shock, whether floods, droughts, or heatwaves, the most vulnerable are always the most affected: low-income communities, informal settlements, women, older persons, and young people whose future opportunities are directly shaped by today’s decisions.

At the same time, this is also a moment of extraordinary opportunity.

Across the world, young people are not waiting. They are building climate applications, mapping flood risks in their neighbourhoods, leading environmental movements, and using digital platforms to hold decision-makers accountable. In some cases, youth-generated data has even proven faster and more detailed than official systems.

But here is another question worth reflecting on:

• If young people are already producing solutions, why are those solutions still too often sitting outside formal decision-making systems?
• What would change if youth innovation was not treated as “extra,” but as “essential infrastructure” for climate action?

Dear Leaders of the Future;

Türkiye stands at a particularly important moment in this regard. As we move toward COP31 in November, Türkiye is stepping into a global spotlight on climate action. But COP31 is not only about international negotiations. It is about whether we can accelerate real transformation at national and local levels across energy systems, cities, food systems, and disaster resilience.

And crucially: whether youth are present not only in the audience of this transformation, but in its design, implementation, and accountability.

Because if we are honest, participation alone is not enough. The real question is: how do we move from listening to young people, to enabling young people to shape decisions that have long-term consequences for their future?

Universities like Bahçeşehir are central to this shift. Not only as places of learning, but as laboratories of ideas, innovation, and civic engagement. The solutions to climate change will not come from one sector alone. They will emerge from collaboration between governments, cities, the private sector, international organizations, and critically, young people who are willing to challenge assumptions and rethink what is possible.

Before we move onto the panel discussion, I want to leave you with a few final reflections:

• Are we bold enough to redesign systems rather than simply improve them?
• Are we ready to treat youth not as stakeholders to be consulted, but as partners in decision-making?
• And are we prepared to move from climate awareness to climate responsibility at the speed and scale that science demands?

Because the truth is simple: the climate crisis is not only a test of policy. It is a test of imagination, courage, and collective action.  And there is no group better placed to pass that test than you - the next generation of leaders, innovators, and changemakers.

I wish you a rich, engaging, and inspiring summit.

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