IKV organised a seminar entitled “Paris Agreement and Prospects for The Industrial Sector” in Istanbul on 21 October 2016. IKV Secretary-General Assoc. Prof. Çiğdem Nas, Head of Unit of Monitoring GHG and Emission Trading at the Ministry of Environment and Urbanisation of Turkey Tuğba İçmeli, IKV Researcher İlge Kıvılcım and Deputy Secretary-General and Director of Market Research Department at the German-Turkish Chamber of Commerce and Industry Frank Kaiser made a speech in the seminar.  

The seminar started with the opening speech of IKV Secretary-General Assoc. Prof. Çiğdem Nas. In her speech, IKV Secretary General Nas informed the audience about IKV’s current activities and its projects. Regarding the issue of climate change and the Paris Agreement, IKV Secretary-General Assoc. Prof. Nas underlined the transformative role of the private sector while tackling climate change under the new deal.

Head of Unit of Monitoring GHG and Emission Trading at the Ministry of Environment and Urbanisation Tuğba İçmeli provided information regarding Turkey’s status at the Twenty-First Session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN (COP 21) which took place in Paris last December and its demands in the new climate change regime. In this regard, İçmeli stated that Turkey demands to be defined as a “developing country” in the UN negotiations and asks to be eligible to receive financial support from global funds in meeting mitigation targets submitted to the UN. Moreover, İçmeli stated that these demands will be negotiated at COP 22 which will take place in Marrakech between 7 and 18 November 2016. Arguing that Turkey’s INDC (up to 21 percent in GHG emission reduction from business-as-usual levels by 2030) might be revised in the near future if it is required. İçmeli also said that they find regional action plans more effective in full adaptation to climate change rather than one national action plan in Turkey.     

During her speech, İçmeli mentioned that Turkey introduced the mechanism for monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) of GHG emissions under the “Legislation on Monitoring of GHG Emissions”. Thanks to successful effort of emitters participating in the legislation, İçmeli noted that monitoring system enable the Ministry to report 50 percent of emitters’ GHG emissions in Turkey.

Furthermore, İçmeli added that Turkey seeks to introduce market-based instruments to reduce GHG emissions. In this regard, İçmeli stressed that national carbon market is under consideration even though there is no clear policy instrument for its implementation process. Concerning the ongoing project in cooperation with the World Bank, İçmeli provided information about the PMR project introducing MRV pilots in Turkey.

Following her speech, IKV Researcher İlge Kıvılcım underlined that Paris Agreement as a comprehensive new climate agreement around the world is expected to drive major transformations of many sectors such as the energy and industrial sectors. Moreover, Researcher Kıvılcım presented an overview of the European Commission’s proposals towards a low-carbon economy which were published on 20 July 2016. Researcher Kıvılcım stated that these proposals set binding annual GHG emission targets for EU Member States for non-Emission Trading System (non-ETS) sectors: buildings, forests, transport, waste and agriculture. Kıvılcım added that the EU aims to reduce GHG emissions by 30 percent compared to the 2005 level by 2030 in these sectors.  

In her speech, Researcher Kıvılcım stated that rules for a low-carbon economy, fossil-free production options and using renewable energy sources globally will become widespread in the new system established under the Paris Agreement and 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. Researcher Kıvılcım pointed out that global warming is limited to 1.5 degrees under the Paris Agreement, but it is currently 1 degree. Researcher Kıvılcım stressed that a global solution can be achieved by reducing the use of fossil fuels, shifting to renewable energy sources and clean production in new business models.

Regarding the issue of Turkey’s alignment with the EU acquis, Researcher Kıvılcım said that Turkey has already got the National Climate Change Action Plan (IDEP) covering targets for non-ETS sectors. Moreover, Turkey also set monitoring system under the Legislation covering EU ETS sectors such as power and heat stations as well as energy-intensive industry. However, concerning GHG emission inventory in Turkey, Kıvılcım noted that total GHG emissions as CO2 equivalent increased by 125 percent in 2014 compared to 1990 even though Turkey is responsible for only 1.24 percent of total global emissions. According to her, Turkey should accelerate clean policy instruments to reduce emissions in tackling climate change and to use renewable energy sources.

Lastly, Deputy Secretary-General and Director of Market Research Department at the German-Turkish Chamber of Commerce and Industry Frank Kaiser stated that climate change is a direct result of human activities and added that the business world has significant responsibilities with respect to cleaner production.