Environment minister: ignoring Kyoto comes at a price
Environment and Forestry Minister Veysel Eroğlu reaffirmed Turkey's determination to become a party to the Kyoto Protocol, stressing the big price Turkey will pay if it fails to do so.
Being a party to the protocol will add to the country's prestige, Eroğlu said, adding: "We will have no responsibility until 2012. Negotiations will be held about what will happen after 2012. We have to be a party to the protocol in order to assert our special conditions in these negotiations. Otherwise it is highly possible that we will pay a higher price in the face of increasing costs due to the increased impact of climate change and [the greater cost of] delayed measures."
Environment Minister Eroğlu spoke with Sunday's Zaman about Turkey's position with respect to the Kyoto protocol. He maintained that the ratifying the protocol will contribute positively to the international prestige of Turkey. This will even boost support to Turkey's chances of winning a nonpermanent seat on the UN Security Council for the period 2009-2010, as well as strengthening the country's hand in negotiations on environmental issues with the EU, he suggested.
Transportation Minister Binali Yıldırım, also noting that the refraining from ratifying the Kyoto Protocol is not beneficial to Turkey, said: "It is senseless for Turkey not to be party to the Kyoto Protocol. Our future depends on this." Yıldırım stressed that Turkey will soon ratify the protocol. "Average [carbon] emissions, which is 11 kilograms per capita globally, is below four kilograms in Turkey. The US tops the list with 22 kilograms. Thus we can conclude that the countries that pollute the environment the most are the industrialized countries. Accordingly, they assume more responsibility," he said.
Haluk Özdalga, the head of Parliament's Environment Commission, which discussed and adopted the bill on ratification of the Kyoto Protocol drafted by the Cabinet, pointed out that the bill should be passed by Parliament before its summer recess. "After being passed by Parliament, the bill will be sent to the UN Secretariat and will enter into force after three months. If Parliament passes it before the summer recess, this will be fine and Turkey will have a chance to attend the meetings on the post-Kyoto period as an official member," he said.
Referring to criticism that joining the Kyoto Protocol will cost Turkey $20 billion, Eroğlu asserted that Turkey will assume no liability until 2012 after becoming a party to the protocol.
"Concerning the period after 2012, the parties will hold mutual negotiations in one or two years' time," he said. Eroğlu explained that work on calculating the cost of signing on is under way and that they are taking into consideration various scenarios.
"The work under a project recently launched by the relevant authorities is yet to be completed. On the other hand, in the work conducted by international organizations concerning harmonization and [carbon] emissions reduction, experts are trying to calculate the costs to the global economy. In the light of these studies, measures against climate change will introduce short-term costs to our country. Given the global aspects of climate change, long-terms policies will certainly bring active costs to the country," he said.
Eroğlu argued that becoming party to the Kyoto Protocol will have numerous advantages for Turkey, including the increased credibility of the country in the international arena as a reliable state with the determination to fight climate change as a top priority problem at home and abroad.
In addition, he added, it will contribute to the improvement of the technical capacity of the country in preparing for the post-2012 period, and it will ensure that Turkey can attend the negotiations as a proper member for the post-2012 period. "We will be able to start incentive and preventive financial measures for the use of low-carbon and high-efficiency technologies. For instance, it will make positive contributions to security of energy supply in the long term," he said.
Eroğlu stated that they are working to ensure that Turkey can attend the 4th Meeting of Protocol Parties, to be held in Ponzan, Poland, between Dec. 1-12, 2008.
Concerning the effects of Turkey's failure to be a party to the protocol, Eroğlu said: "Until now, Turkey has considered it fit to act cautiously with respect to Kyoto Protocol membership. However, today we are passing through an important and critical process. Our country did not become a party to the protocol while the protocol was being negotiated, and for this reason did not attend negotiations. This in turn led to our failure to ensure that the provisions that would take our special conditions into consideration were included in the protocol. … Now we must try to ensure that Turkey attends the negotiations concerning the post-2012 climate regime and assert its interests."
What is the Kyoto Protocol?
The UN defines the Kyoto Protocol as follows: an international agreement linked to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The major feature of the Kyoto Protocol is that it sets binding targets for 37 industrialized countries and the European community for reducing greenhouse gas emissions .These amount to an average of 5 percent against 1990 levels over the five-year period 2008-2012.
The major distinction between the protocol and the UNFCCC is that while the latter encourages industrialized countries to stabilize greenhouse gas emissions, the protocol commits them to doing so.
22.06.2008
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