Erdoğan: Turkey to keep balance between climate cooperation, its development goals

ANKARA

As part of the Paris Agreement, Turkey will continue to participate in the process of collaborating with the international community and will do so with an understanding that will strike a balance between its own development goals and the sensitivities of humanity, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said at an assessment meeting on climate policies on Dec. 2

The developments that would occur after Turkey’s involvement in the process after ratifying the Paris Agreement were discussed at the presidential high advisory board meeting, which was chaired by Erdoğan.

The board members assessed the net-zero emission target is envisaged to be achieved by 2053 within the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP-26) National Statement, which was declared as part of harmonization with the “European Green Deal,” in which Turkey negotiated the “Green Reconciliation Action Plan,” encompassing the European Union’s 2050 targets, a statement by the presidency said.

The board members discussed the Climate Law for policies, targets, and regulations related to climate change and are currently being prepared.

Attending the meeting were the board members İsmail Kahraman, Cemil Çiçek, Köksal Toptan, Mehmet Ali Şahin and Environment, Urbanisation and Climate Change Minister Murat Kurum, Presidential Communications Director Fahrettin Altun, Presidential Administrative Affairs Director Metin Kıratlı and Chief of Cabinet to the President Hasan Doğan.

On Oct. 6, the Turkish Grand National Assembly approved the Paris Agreement and Turkey become the 192nd country to be a party to the accord.

The Paris Agreement was signed at COP21 in Paris in December 2015 and entered into force on Nov. 4, 2016.

The Agreement creates the legal environment that will ensure regulation in policies and laws in line with the goal of limiting the global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees. Within this framework, Turkey will update its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), the means by which each country every five years shows efforts to reduce national emissions and adapt to the impacts of climate change.

The agreement targets a reduction in global emissions by at least 50 percent by 2030 and net zero emissions by 2050.
Under the legally binding agreement, Turkey, which had previously committed to reducing its emissions from a 21 percent increase by 2030, plans to update its NDCs containing emission reduction targets for energy, waste, transportation, buildings and agricultural sectors as a first step and submit it to the U.N. Secretariat.

It is expected that a roadmap will be created for the country’s target of achieving net zero emissions by 2053.