Climate change policy

Comment by energy expert Boyan Rashev

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.

Environmental regulations aimed at cutting the carbon footprint of aviation will increase the cost of flying by around 8% by 2050, according to the European Commission.

The EU executive tabled a package of energy and climate laws in July this year, aiming to halve the EU's carbon emissions by the end of the decade before reaching net-zero by 2050.

Ljubljana – Slovenia can achieve climate neutrality by the middle of the 21st century if it makes cutting greenhouse gas emissions and transition to climate neutrality a top priority and if it immediately enhances implementation of climate measures, says the Climate Mirror 2021 report.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, under pressure to adopt a 2050 net-zero carbon emissions target, said in an interview published on Sept. 27 that he may not join this year's landmark U.N. climate summit in Glasgow.

Turkey, which announced the presentation of the Paris Climate Deal to parliament next month, will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 21 percent as of 2030 by implementing an action plan with nine major points.

"The country prepared an action plan consisting of some 32 targets and some 81 acts collected under nine major points," daily Milliyet reported on Sept. 23.

The World Health Organization (WHO) tightened its air quality guidelines on Wednesday for the first time since 2005, hoping to encourage countries to introduce clean energy and prevent deaths and diseases caused by pollution.

Turkey is planning to submit the Paris climate pact to parliament for approval next month in line with its constructive steps and a declaration of its contributions to the cause, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Sept. 21.

The United Nations chief warned on Sept. 10 that the world is "moving in the wrong direction" and exhorted nations to take urgent action to fight the Covid-19 pandemic and climate change.

"Covid-19 is a wake-up call, and we are oversleeping," U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said at a press conference.

President Klaus Iohannis said on Monday that the UN report on climate change must be a wake-up call for all of us and that he will be actively involved in the processes aimed at addressing the climate crisis.