COP 23 was one COP in two zones: The Bula zone was the site of the official negotiations  - with little relevance to what happens in the real world. The Bonn zone hosted dozens of civil society kiosks and hundreds of events searching for real solutions.

Today, on 20 November, is the Transgender Day of Remembrance. Broader systemic inequalities still exist - especially in three crucial areas: gender identity/expression, sex work and migration.

The law, which women’s organizations and the parliamentary opposition have been protesting comprises significant changes in the regulation of marriage matters contrary to secular principles and to the disadvantage of women. Authorizing religious authorities, the muftis, to officiate marriages is only one of them. 

Geoengineering technologies are not yet deployable globally, but support for them is advancing fast, thanks to backing by powerful advocates eager to start experiments. But no silver bullet for climate change exists, and we must not abandon proven methods for the sake of a promise that one will be found.

The Turkish education system has become a battlefield of both policies and ideologies in Turkey. The latest proof of that is the abolishment of the entrance exams for secondary education last month. 

On the evening of September 9th this year hundreds of construction workers started building a new road through the forest on the campus of the Middle East Technical University (METU) in Ankara. The trucks and excavators were accompanied by hundreds of policemen to prevent possible resistance and demonstrations. 

During the last week a short video “went viral” which depicted how several caves in the upper parts of Hasankeyf  - an ancient city in the southeast of Turkey - were demolished with dynamite as part of construction work undertaken to erect a large damm.

Is it a coincidence that whenever news about sexual assaults against women and children are on the rise, magically from somewhere male politicians will appear suggesting to solve the issue by shoving women into gender-segregated busses and trains? 

The G20 Antalya Leaders’ Summit, hosted on 15-16 November 2015, marked the conclusion of Turkey’s year-long Group presidency. 

The piece will evaluate Turkey's climate and energy policies as reflected in the 2015 G20's sustainability agenda from the perspective of state policies, the G20 negotiations and the perspectives and demands of civil society.