Turkey Finally Ratifies Paris Agreement Ahead of Climate Summit

Members of Turkish parliament in a meeting at the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM) in Ankara, Turkey, 02 January 2020. Photo: EPA-EFE/STR

Members of the Turkish parliament on Wednesday night ratified the agreement unanimously and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan swiftly approved the decision of the parliament in time for the UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, COP26, which opens on October 31.

"I want this step, which adds great strength to our fight against climate change … to be beneficial," Murat Kurum, Minister for Environment and Urbanisation, said after parliament's vote.

The UN on Wednesday welcomed Turkey's ratification of the Paris accords as a move contributing to global efforts to tackle climate change.

"It's essential that all countries continue to boost ambition, and the Secretary-General has been clear that G20 countries must lead the way," Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, told Turkey's Anadolu Agency on Thursday.

President Erdogan announced last month in his UN speech that Turkey will ratify the agreement and said that all countries have "a historical responsibility" to deal with climate change.

Turkish environmentalists and international groups have been calling on Turkey to ratify the agreement for a long time.

In the past years, the country has faced several environmental disasters attributed at least in part to climate change, including a massive drought, sea snot crisis, devastating wildfires and major flash floods.

Turkey was among the first countries to sign the Paris agreement, in 2016, but then delayed ratification as it sought to be reclassified as a developing instead of a developed country - to avoid harsher emission reduction targets and...