IKV Chairman Ayhan Zeytinoğlu stated that promising commitments were announced during the Leaders Summit on Climate, which was hosted by the US and brought together 40 leaders on 22-23 April 2021, on the occasion of Earth Day. Emphasizing that limiting global warming to 1.5 °C by 2100 will significantly reduce climate-related risks compared to 2°C, IKV Chairman Zeytinoğlu affirmed that an important step was taken in this direction at the Leaders Climate Summit, but also underscored the need to implement concrete actions as soon as possible. President Zeytinoğlu continued by saying:

“It is good news that the US intends to push for climate leadership under the Biden presidency, considering that former President Donald Trump under the climate-sceptic approach withdrew the US from the Paris Agreement and promoted a fossil fuel-based economic growth in the US for four years with his ‘America First’ policy.  Another welcome development announced during the summit was that the US, the second-largest emitter of CO2, committed to halving its greenhouse gas emission by 2030, compared with 2005 levels. Biden’s pledge is nearly double the 2030 climate goal set by the Obama administration.”

IKV Chairman Zeytinoğlu also commented on the recently agreed EU Climate Law:

“The European Parliament (EP) and the European Council have not been able to reach an agreement in the Climate Law negotiations for months. While the European Council wanted the 2030 climate target to be enshrined into the EU Climate Law as a 55% net greenhouse gas emission cut, the EP continued to reject this target for many rounds of negotiation. This is due to the fact that the 55% net greenhouse gas emission cut could only be achieved through carbon sinks, which would actually result in a 52.6% emission cut. However, the institutions rushing to announce the final version of the Climate Law at this summit hosted by the US, finally reached a compromise on 21 April 2021. Thus, EU institutions agreed on the 55% net greenhouse gas emission reduction target for 2030. However, they also pledged to clarify how much emission reduction and removal will contribute to this target, and to ensure the improvement of carbon sinks by introducing a more ambitious Land Use Change and Forestry regulation by 2021.”

IKV Chairman Zeytinoğlu finally touched upon global cooperation which is of great importance in achieving global climate goals: “There are some comments that in line with the new climate targets announced by the major economies making up more than half of the global economy such as the US, the EU, Canada, the UK and Japan, the world is now on track to limit global warming to 1.5 °C by 2100. However, it was disappointing to see that countries such as China and India, which have a large share in global emissions, did not set new targets at this summit. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was one of the 40 leaders invited to the summit. During the summit, President Erdoğan stated that Turkey will reduce its greenhouse gas emissions up to 21% by 2030 within the framework of the nationally determined contribution submitted in 2015 and declared that Turkey is exerting significant efforts to reduce the negative impacts of climate change. However, although Turkey was one of the first countries to sign the Paris Agreement, today it is among the six countries which have not ratified the Paris Agreement, along with Eritrea, Iran, Iraq, Libya, and Yemen. This situation is worrying since there is a possibility that Turkey would remain outside the current climate regime. Located in the Mediterranean Basin, Turkey is one of the countries most affected by climate change. Hence, under these conditions, Turkey will not be able to act as an active participant in the Conference of the Parties in the future. Moreover, tackling climate change is an important area where Turkey can cooperate with other countries, especially the EU and the US. It is crucial for Turkey, as an EU candidate country and a Customs Union partner, to comply with the European Green Deal. In addition, both in the Council conclusions of 25-26 March 2021 and the visit by the presidents of the Commission and the Council to Ankara, tackling climate change was mentioned as one of the proposed high level dialogue topics under the positive agenda. Turkey now needs to implement the Paris Agreement, set more ambitious climate goals, and be a part of global cooperation so that it can better represent itself in climate negotiations and create closer cooperation with the EU on climate change.”