Climate change: Turkey ratifies the Paris agreement – archyde

The Turkish Parliament ratified, Wednesday evening October 6, unanimously the Paris agreement on the climate, according to the parliamentary channel which broadcast the vote live, thus following the commitment of its president before the General Assembly of United Nations last month.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced this decision at the end of September in New York, making his country the 191^e to ratify this agreement which, when adopted in 2016, should make it possible to limit the rise in average temperatures on the planet to 2 ° C and, if possible, to 1.5 ° C.

This ratification comes three weeks before the World Climate Conference under the auspices of the UN (COP26), which will open at the end of October in Glasgow (United Kingdom).

Turkey signed the Paris Agreement in 2016. It is one of the last major greenhouse gas emitting countries to ratify the text. Iran, Iraq, Libya, Yemen and Ethiopia are still missing.

Mr. Erdogan had so far justified his abstention by asking for a better sharing of the burden, in terms of reducing polluting emissions. According to Ankara, efforts must be differentiated between industrialized countries, a category to which Turkey nevertheless belongs.

+ 150% emissions since 1990

Turkey’s net greenhouse gas emissions have increased by more than 150% since 1990, according to official Turkish figures.

But the climate issue suddenly imposed itself in the country this summer, after a succession of extreme weather events, including forest fires on the Mediterranean coast and flooding in the north, which claimed a hundred lives and caused extensive damage.

Turkey is also hit by a persistent drought, which is already forcing some producers to abandon their land and others to turn to new crops that require less water.

Conservationists are alarmed at Ankara’s desire to boost its coal-based energy production, as Turkey officially plans to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 21% by 2030.

On the basis of the current commitments of the member states of the Paris Agreement, “The world is on the catastrophic path of + 2.7 ° C”, recently warned UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, stressing that “If we do not change course collectively, there is a great risk of failure of the COP26” in Glasgow. The conference will be held in Scotland from October 31 to November 12.

A study conducted in April showed that three quarters of Turks were aware of climate change. Among the main consequences cited by respondents: the increase in extreme weather events, air pollution and rising food prices, a hot topic in a country hit by inflation.