Turkey to ratify Paris Climate Agreement soon: Minister

MILAN

Turkey's environment and urbanization minister on Thursday said the 2016 Paris Agreement on climate change mitigation has become an agenda item of the parliament and his country would soon become a party to the deal once it is ratified.

Murat Kurum's remarks came during a pre-COP26 meeting held in Italy’s Milan city.

He said that his country would soon be part of the agreement to contribute to the efforts against climate change, and Turkey has already set a "net zero emission" target.

Kurum said the Turkish government has made it a priority to invest more in the future in green and sustainable development, and renewable energy.

The Turkish minister went on to note that Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports pointed out that the negative effects of climate change were moving toward an irreversible level and they would continue to be felt in a stronger, faster and more intensified manner in the future.

"Our expectation from COP26 is that all countries take a fair level of responsibility in the fight against climate change," the minister said, adding no country should be left behind and that technology should be shared especially with developing countries.

He argued that the problem was aggravating as the developed countries keep sending emission-producing industries to the developing countries which means the developing countries would not live up to reaching zero-emission goals.

Kurum also had a conversation with US special presidential envoy for climate John Kerry and UN Human Settlements Program (UN-Habitat) Executive Director Maimunah Mohd Sharif.

*Writing by Ali Murat Alhas