News Lounge | BRI offers major opportunities for green energy cooperation: Turkish media professional

By Wei Yuan, Wang Gaofei and Xue Lingqiao

(ECNS) -- China's approach to ecological civilization offers an important model for the global energy transition and green energy cooperation projects developed under the Belt and Road Initiative present major opportunities for countries such as Türkiye, Nadir Temeloğlu, editor-in-chief of Türkiye's Ulusal Kanal, spoke at the China-Türkiye Dialogue on Ecological Civilization and Green Transformation in Istanbul on Thursday local time.

The dialogue was held during the ongoing 31st United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP31).

The event was co-hosted by China News Service and the Research Center for Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization, co-organized by China News Network and the Policy Research Center for Environment and Economy of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment.

It also marks the second time China News Service has brought its "News Lounge" interviews to Türkiye.

Representatives from government departments, research institutions, enterprises, and media from both China and Türkiye attended the event.

In a speech at the dialogue, Temeloğlu addressed topics including climate justice, energy transition and Türkiye-China green energy cooperation.

He said the climate crisis is not merely an environmental problem, but also a question of injustice. In his view, current climate policies risk perpetuating and even reproducing these inequalities. The solution, he said, lies in establishing a worldview that prioritizes the shared interests of all humanity.

Temeloğlu believed that overcoming this crisis needs a vision of an Ecological Civilization built upon egalitarian, cooperative and solidarity based values that prioritize harmony between humanity and nature.

He also stressed that new energy must be affordable, readily accessible, renewable and environmentally benign. To this end, renewable energy sources and green hydrogen should come to the fore.

Temeloğlu particularly noted that China's approach to ecological civilization offers an important reference to global countries. He said that China treats environmental pollution brought on by rapid economic growth as an existential challenge and has placed ecological transformation at the heart of its national security strategy.

He also said that China's efforts to advance ecological civilization in areas such as clean energy development, green agriculture and sustainable urbanization constitute an exemplary model.

Temeloğlu also discussed bilateral green energy cooperation between Türkiye and China under the Belt and Road Initiative.

He said such projects have brought major opportunities to Türkiye and other countries.

Green energy cooperation projects developed under the initiative also present major opportunities for countries such as Türkiye.

Green energy cooperation between countries such as China and Türkiye will accelerate their development and help build a more just international order, he said.

He concluded that the green transition cannot be achieved through isolated national actions alone and that genuine solutions can come only from an approach centered on public interest, sharing, solidarity and equality among nations.