Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said his country will ratify the Paris Agreement on climate change before a UN climate summit in Glasgow scheduled for November.
“We will have completed the ratification process [of the Paris Agreement] in time for the climate change summit in Glasgow in November,” Erdoğan said following a Cabinet meeting on Monday evening.
The 12-day meeting in Scotland, the biggest climate conference since landmark talks in Paris in 2015, is seen as a crucial step in setting worldwide emissions targets to slow global warming. It will run from Oct. 31 to Nov. 12
Erdoğan said Turkey would draft its middle and long-term development plans in line with the “green development revolution.”
Erdoğan announced at the UN General Assembly last week that Turkey, the only G-20 country that has not yet ratified the Paris Agreement, would ratify the accord. His announcement followed a year of violent weather events in Turkey, including wildfires and flash floods — that have claimed some 100 lives.
“I would like to announce to the whole world here from the United Nations General Assembly the decision we have taken following the progress made within the framework of the agreement. We plan to submit the Paris climate agreement for approval to our parliament next month,” Erdoğan said.
Erdoğan has come under intense political pressure at home for his handling of deadly wildfires and flash floods that hit Turkey’s southern Mediterranean resort regions and northern Black Sea coast in August.
The two disasters and an accompanying drought in Turkey’s Southeast have increased the importance of environmental issues in the minds of voters — especially for the younger generation.
Erdoğan will need the support of millions of teens who will be voting for the first time when he tries to extend his rule into a third decade in a general election scheduled for no later than June 2023.