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Climate Change and Türkiye

Mervekayacan
Akkim Akademi
Published in
7 min readFeb 14, 2023

Climate change is defined in Article 1 of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change as “a change in climate as a result of human activities that directly or indirectly change the composition of the atmosphere, in addition to the natural variability of climate observed over a comparable period of time”. This change has started to be anthropogenic (human-induced) rather than natural as a result of the evolution of the human factor’s relationship with nature and the development of industry. With the negative consequences of this human impact on nature over time, climate change has become the biggest crisis of all time.

It is believed that if this crisis, which involves the whole world regardless of region, political structure or level of development, cannot be prevented, life on earth will end. According to a report published by Monash University in 2021, the climate-related mortality rate reaches 5 million worldwide every year. According to the report of the National Center for Environmental Information published in the same year, there is a financial loss of more than 1 million dollars due to global warming in 2021 alone. More importantly, the Swiss Re Institute estimates that the biggest impact of climate change could eliminate 18% of GDP from the world economy by 2050 if global temperatures rise by 3.2°C.

In order to put a stop to this crisis, relevant non-governmental organizations and international organizations have been working for a long time, drafting agreements and presenting them to the international platform. In December 2015, at the 21st United Nations Climate Change Conference, attended by more than 190 countries, including Türkiye, the parties adopted the Paris Agreement, which establishes the framework of the climate change regime and takes its name from the city where the meeting took place. The Agreement entered into force on November 4, 2016, with the ratification of at least 55 of the countries that account for 55% of global greenhouse gas emissions as of October 5, 2016.

Why Paris Agreement?

The Paris Climate Agreement is seen as a historic milestone in the international fight against global warming. What gives the agreement this characteristic is that it is not only a regulation to reduce carbon emissions, but also a global action plan that aims to build stable societies and healthy economies that overlap with most of the 2030 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. The Paris Agreement, which serves as a global guideline to put a stop to all the dynamics that cause the climate crisis, necessitates a change in all policies and economic decisions that feed these dynamics in the transformation process. In this framework, in order for the agreement to be fully implemented, it is not enough just to reduce the factors that cause global warming. In addition, the agreement requires a stable political commitment to transition to a climate-resilient society and to ensure that this transition is socially just. In this respect, the Paris Agreement not only limits carbon emissions, but also encourages policies, economic planning, green bonds and an impact investing model to harmonize all of these in line with the Sustainable Development Goals.

One of the most important features of the Paris Agreement, which is a global action plan, is that it establishes a system that adopts the principle of “common but differentiated responsibilities and relative capabilities” according to developed/developing country classifications, taking into account the differences in the economic and political capacities of countries. Since 1950, organizations such as the World Trade Organization (WTO), the United Nations (UN), the European Union (EU) and Greenpeace have put forward this system to ensure that the “one size fits all” policy, which is a common problem of all international agreements, signed or unsigned, does not prevent the implementation of the terms of the Paris Agreement. The Agreement allows developing countries to play a pro-active role in global problems.

What awaits Türkiye ?

Türkiye has started to be affected by the negative aspects of climate change due to decreasing water resources and the resulting ecological degradation. This has destabilized agriculture and animal husbandry, which are important sources of income for the country, and caused serious economic losses. In 2015, Türkiye participated in the 21st Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC and took steps to participate in the global solution process. It became one of the first signatory countries of the Paris Climate Agreement adopted at the same conference and made a fast start in the race against global warming. Türkiye, one of the 6 countries and the only G20 country, along with Eritrea, Iraq, Iran, Libya and Yemen, that did not ratify the Paris Agreement for a period of time, ratified the agreement through the Turkish Grand National Assembly on October 5, 2021, 5 years after its entry into force. The Agreement entered into force on October 7, 2021 by being published in the Official Gazette №31621 under the title “Law on the Approval of the Ratification of the Paris Agreement”.

The long-term goals of the Agreement;

  • Sustained global efforts to keep the increase in average global temperature below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and to reduce it below 1.5°C in the future;
  • Increased climate adaptation and resilience to the adverse impacts of climate change;
  • Ensuring that food production continues unharmed while low greenhouse gas emission development arrangements are in place;
  • Stabilization of financial flows on the path to low-emission, climate-resilient development.

According to Türkiye’s declaration of intended national contribution for the Paris Agreement, GHG emissions are envisaged to be reduced by up to 21% in 2030 from the increase compared to the reference scenario (BAU). In addition, the “Plan Policies to be Implemented with the Intended National Contribution” established within the framework of the UNFCCC are also presented in the law.

Firstly, it is aimed to transition to sustainable and clean energy by investing in the means of utilization of natural energy resources. It is envisaged to reduce energy intensity by providing financial support to Efficiency Improvement Projects for energy efficiency in industrial facilities and implementing the Energy Efficiency Strategy Document and Action Plan.

Implementation of sustainable transportation planning approach in cities, implementation of green port projects for energy efficiency and increasing the use of alternative fuels and clean vehicles are among the targets. Green Building, passive energy, zero-energy house designs are planned to be disseminated to minimize energy demand and ensure that energy is produced where it is consumed, and new residential and service buildings are planned to be constructed in an energy efficient manner in accordance with the Regulation on Energy Performance in Buildings.

In the field of agriculture, it is aimed to achieve fuel savings as a result of land consolidation, controlled use of fertilizers and sustainability through good agricultural practices. In order to prevent environmental pollution caused by wastes, it is planned to send solid wastes to landfills, reuse, recycle, recover them through other processes to obtain secondary raw materials, use them as energy sources or dispose of them. In addition, methane recovery from landfill gas resulting from regular and irregular landfills was requested to be realized. Finally, increasing sink areas, preventing land degradation and Forest Rehabilitation Action Plan and Afforestation Mobilization are also included in the policies envisaged.

The ratification of the Paris Agreement in our country is a big step for us. However, the most important thing will be implementation and stability. In order to efficiently compensate for the lost time, it is necessary to move forward quickly and confidently. In the last few years, we have been observing more clearly the sensitivity of our Mediterranean climate to the adverse effects of climate change. According to the information obtained from the General Directorate of Meteorology, Türkiye experienced the most natural disasters in 2020 since its foundation, and this situation continued with the fire and flood disasters we experienced in 2021. Even if the Paris Agreement is a big step for Türkiye’s future, it will not be possible to reach the future that the agreement aims for unless we as individuals become aware of the criticality of the situation and adopt a nature-friendly life. For a better future, nations, organizations, private and public sectors must work hand in hand.

It is in our hands today to create a livable tomorrow..

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Mervekayacan
Akkim Akademi

Written by Mervekayacan

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