Ratified Paris climate accord to bring major changes in Turkey

ANKARA

The Paris climate agreement ratified in the Turkish parliament late on Oct. 6 will change everything from transportation to nutrition, even the air to breathe, according to a climate change coverage by daily Milliyet.

“A new era will begin in Turkey,” headlined the daily on Oct. 12.

The parliament ratified the Paris climate deal late on Oct. 6 after holding off for years due to what it saw as injustices in its responsibilities as part of the agreement.

The deal has been put into effect after publishing it in the Official Gazette on Oct. 7.

“Some 60 percent of the population breathe polluted air. As fossil fuel will not be used, people will be able to breathe clean and fresh air,” the daily reported about the most significant change the society will face.

Environment-friendly transport vehicles, such as bicycles and eco-friendly trains, will be promoted and new technologies and innovations supporting healthy lives and the environment will be used.

A new development plan on economics based on green requirements will be formed as “industrialists and exporters will renew their production technologies not to get caught in EU’s carbon tax.”

Also, a new employment area will be opened as new firms will be established to control the manufacturers’ products and the greenhouse gas emission they have caused.

The country will finish coal consumption by 2053 as the era of the “wind energy facilities, solar power plants and hydroelectric power stations” will begin.

Nutrition will be delivered in the cold chain to decrease the loss by some 35 percent as led light will be preferred other than the halogen lamps like in the EU.

“Gasoline or diesel-powered vehicles will be out, hybrid and electric vehicles will be in,” the daily highlighted.

“The numbers of the flights of the airliners which do not change their fuel system will be decreased,” it added.

Remarking the social changes, the daily wrote, “All community events, such as wedding ceremonies, will be held under carbon-neutral standards. For instance, setting off fireworks will not be allowed.”

Afforestation efforts will be enhanced and water resources will be protected. Zero waste management will become widespread across the country and advanced wastewater treatment facilities will be established near the Marmara Sea.

The construction sector will have to change as buildings will be constructed with zero-emission technology.

The agreement will also “add leverages at the country’s hands” on an international level. “Turkey has not benefited from the Green Climate Fund, but new doors to funds will open, and as a country ratifying the deal, Turkey will have a say in the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, Scotland, which is scheduled to happen in early Noıvember,” the daily underlined.

Meanwhile, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced late Oct. 11 that the country would have a ministry that would focus on the climate crisis and put the green development revolution at the core of its efforts.

“Turkey is renaming the Environment and Urbanization Ministry as the Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change Ministry,” Erdoğan said in his address to the nation after a three-hour presidential cabinet meeting in the capital Ankara.

In addition, he noted that a climate change presidency would be established and affiliated with the ministry to tackle the issue in a more elaborate manner.

Mentioning a series of issues in the country’s agenda, such as the migration and the killing of two police officers in northern Syria, the president especially remarked on the ratification of the Paris climate agreement in his speech.

He said that climate change concerns every country and that the Turkish parliament has recently ratified the Paris Agreement. “The international community should also take a fair responsibility to tackle climate change, depending on their individual damage to nature,” he added.

Erdoğan highlighted that the government expects all parties, the private sector and NGOs to support green development, which is a “historic project.”

The General Directorate for Combating Desertification and Erosion and the General Directorate of Meteorology, affiliated with the Agriculture and Forestry Ministry, will be transferred to the new Climate Change Ministry, the president noted.

Erdoğan also remarked that the Directorate General of Migration Management working under the Interior Ministry will be converted into a new “Migration Management Ministry.”