Turkey vows to achieve fair status under climate regime

By Handan Kazanci

ISTANBUL (AA) – Turkey on Sunday expressed its determination to achieve a “fair position” within the scope of the international regime to combat climate change in an addendum statement to the G20 Leaders' Summit Declaration.

“As a developing country having negligible historical responsibility for greenhouse gas emissions [accounting for less than 1% of the world’s total], Turkey’s position under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and Paris Agreement, which is the implementation tool of the UNFCCC, is not fair at all,” said Foreign Ministry spokesman Hami Aksoy in a statement.

Aksoy stressed that Turkey “attaches great importance to combatting climate change, which is a global challenge, and actively contributes to global climate action to this end.”

“Our position in this regard has been put on record in the statement annexed to the G20 Leaders' Declaration adopted during the G20 Summit held on 21-22 November 2020 under the Presidency of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,” the statement said.

“The said position, previously reflected in the G20 Energy Ministers Meeting Communique, has been put on record with the agreement of all the countries in the G20 Leaders' Declaration, and this way, our country's determination to achieve an equal and fair position under the international climate regime in order to contribute more to climate action efforts is underlined once again,” the statement added.

In 2018, Mehmet Emin Birpinar, Turkey’s chief negotiator for climate change talks, complained about "unfairness" towards Turkey. As part of the deal, Turkey cannot benefit from international funds to combat climate change, he had said.

The Paris Agreement, spearheaded by US President Donald Trump's predecessor, Barack Obama, and Chinese President Xi Jinping and signed by 195 countries in April 2016, aims to fight climate change by reducing carbon emissions and limiting global temperature rises to below 2 degrees Celsius.