By Janet Ekstract
ISTANBUL (TURKISH JOURNAL)- Turkey will finally be an official party to the Paris Agreement on November 10. This means that Turkey will need to adhere to all legal regulation surrounding environmental issues specified in the Agreement and its specific mandates. In September 2021, Turkish President Erdogan announced that Turkey would join the Paris Agreement when he spoke at the UN General Assembly. Then on October 6, the Turkish Grand National Assembly approved Turkey joining the Paris Agreement.
According to Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC), Patricia Espinosa – Turkey’s significance in the global arena as well as its contribution to combating climate change is crucial in all areas covered by the Paris Agreement. International Energy Agency chief Fatih Birol commented that Turkey joining the Paris Agreement will lead the country to take major steps toward clean energy.
The agreement that was signed at COP21 in 2015 in Paris and took effect on November 4, 2016, maintains as its goal a global emissions reduction of at least 50% by 2030 and net zero emissions by 2050. Under the agreement, Turkey plans to update its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) from a previous commitment of a 21% decrease in emissions by 2030 in a number of sectors including energy, waste, transportation, buildings, and agricultural sectors as a first step that will be submitted to the UN Secretariat. Projections are that a roadmap will be created for Turkey’s target to achieve net zero emissions by 2053. NDCs are the benchmark that each country uses every five years to demonstrate efforts to reduce national emissions and adapt to the impacts of climate change. The Paris Agreement establishes a legal framework that ensures regulation in policies and laws in line with the goal of limiting global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius. Turkey is the 192nd country to join the Agreement.
