Türkiye entered a new stage in its fight against the fallout from climate change when its Parliament approved the Paris climate agreement on Oct. 6, 2021. A step to bolster actions Türkiye already had in place, the ratification speeded up the country’s efforts in preparing action plans against the global phenomenon.
The country signed the 2015 deal, along with 175 other countries, in 2016, the year it came into force, one year after the international community agreed upon the treaty. However, it stopped short of implementing it, along with other countries like Iraq, Iran, Libya and Yemen, pointing out that it was included in the list of developed countries party to the treaty. Ankara sees this inclusion as unfair due to Turkey’s status as a developing country, which means it would face a huge financial burden in implementing the climate change commitments stipulated in the deal.
The deal, the first comprehensive agreement on climate change, requires countries ratifying it to limit the increase in global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) and bring greenhouse gas emissions to zero by 2050. These goals can be achieved by reducing fossil fuel use and switching to renewable energy sources. The agreement was not fully implemented by all countries due to disagreement on how it should be implemented.
Though Türkiye ratified the agreement, it still did not update Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) in the agreement. NDCs refer to actions that each country will take to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions to reach the Paris agreement's goals. Professor Güray Salihoğlu, a member of the department of Environmental Engineering at Türkiye's Uludağ University, said Türkiye will likely update NDCs "in the coming days." Speaking to Anadolu Agency (AA) on Thursday, Salihoğlu said the agreement stipulated that each country should reduce their emissions by 50% by 2030 and volunteer to declare NDCs. "In other words, it says countries can do whatever it takes to halve the emissions by 2030 and reach 'net-zero' goal by 2050," he said. The agreement also calls for creating a climate fund with donations from countries amounting to a total of $100 billion annually that will be used to help the countries that cannot afford the fight against climate change.
Salihoğlu said Türkiye's commitment to the struggle against climate change was evident in the state's actions. "European Commission announced Green Deal in 2019 and declared a set of objectives to accomplish its goals on Jun. 14, 2021. Two days later, Türkiye announced its own Green Deal action plan. Türkiye closely follows developments on the issue and its action plan contains decisions and recommendations," he noted. Salihoğlu said that in a year, Türkiye gathered pace in adaptation to goals for reducing emissions and put "green transformation" in its medium-term growth plans. "It also changed the name of its environment ministry to the ministry of environment and climate change," he said, noting that it was the second country with the highest number of delegates sent to the COP26 summit in Glasgow last year, with 376 delegates. "We also had a climate council in Konya last February and decisions made at the council were made public this June. A total of 217 advisory decisions were made in different fields on the issue, from energy to transportation to agriculture, forestry and technology," he said.
More significantly, Türkiye is working to boost its renewable energy investments. Salihoğlu said readily usable renewable energy sources had a share of 53,6% in total energy sources last year and rose to 54.3% in August. He also pointed out preparations for the enactment of a climate law to regulate and improve efforts in the struggle against climate change.
Salihoğlu says Türkiye also needs to focus on a "savings economy," especially when European countries were concentrating on saving energy (in the face of an anticipated energy crisis in winter). "This is a primary principle of the cyclical economy: Decreasing consumption. People should be encouraged to buy less and consume less so less energy will be generated and nature will be deprived of resources less. It will both decrease the formation of waste and energy losses," he highlighted.
He highlighted that although Türkiye had comprehensive regulations about the environment, putting them into practice might have been problematic at times. "We need a full commitment to plans. They should be fully implemented and violation of any (environmental) regulation should have a deterring punishment. It is easier said than done and has been the case in the world. Türkiye made a promise and now it has to fulfill it," he said.
