UN chief backs Turkey on climate change talks: Environment minister

MADRID

Turkey's environment minister said on Monday that the UN Secretary-General supports Turkey on climate talks.

"UN Secretary-General [Antonio] Guterres supports Turkey's reasonable position in the climate change negotiations," Murat Kurum told reporters following his meeting with Guterres in the Spanish capital of Madrid.

Kurum said Turkey wanted treatment equal to other countries of a similar level of development and that it would continue intensive negotiations to achieve this as part of the Paris Agreement.

Touching on Turkey’s Zero Waste Management System, which aims to reduce the volume of non-recyclable waste, he said Turkey has taken decisive steps towards the fight against climate change and has made advances in renewable energy.

Kurum went on to say that Turkey is one of the least polluting countries and that it has worked hard on environmental issues.

Praising Turkey's environmental steps, Guterres said Turkey is a role model country.

As part of bilateral meetings, Kurum also met his Chilean counterpart Carolina Schmidt, who is presiding over the COP25 UN Climate Change Conference.

A two-week UN climate summit began in Madrid on Monday among world leaders and activists for talks on tackling climate change.

COP25 is the final Conference of Parties before 2020 when many nations must submit new climate action plans.