Glasgow

Brussels – Prime Minister Janez Janša outlined the priorities of Slovenia’s EU presidency to the European Committee of the Regions on Wednesday, highlighting post-Covid recovery, green transition and the EU’s strategic autonomy, while also touching on subsidiarity.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres welcomed on Oct. 7 Turkey's ratification of the 2015 Paris climate accord, saying Ankara should rapidly present its national plan to combat climate change. 

"I expect Turkey to present as soon as possible a national #ClimateAction plan in line with its commitment to get to net zero emissions by 2053," Guterres said on Twitter.

Luxembourg – The EU environment ministers adopted on Wednesday a joint EU position for the UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, which includes an agreement on a five-year time frame. “For the first time in many years the European delegation is going to the climate conference with a clear position on time frames,” Slovenia’s Andrej Vizjak said.

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

More than five billion people could have difficulty accessing water in 2050, the UN warned on Tuesday, urging leaders to take the initiative at the COP26 summit.

As early as 2018, 3.6 billion people had inadequate access to water for at least a month a year, according to a new report by the UN World Meteorological Organization.

The Turkish parliament ratified the Paris climate agreement to contribute to the global efforts against climate change and put it into effect after publishing it in the Official Gazette on Oct. 7.

Pope Francis and other religious leaders issued a joint appeal today to the organizers and participants of next month's UN Climate Change Conference (COP26). They called on forum participants to propose concrete solutions to save the planet from "an unprecedented environmental crisis," Reuters reported.

Turkey is taking steps for green economy as part of its fight against the negative impact of climate change, the Turkish vice president said on Oct. 4. 

Milan – Environment Minister Andrej Vizjak attended a three-day Pre-COP meeting in Milan whose participants tried to bring their positions closer together ahead of the COP26 summit in Glasgow. He noted the importance of an agreement being reached at the summit as the only way to limit heating of the atmosphere and negative impact of climate change.

Turkey will take a lead role in combatting climate change globally, poised to ratify the Paris Agreement on climate before the Glasgow summit in November, the country's president said on Sept. 27.