CLIMATE CHANGE
ZEYNEP GÖKÇE SARAL
MIR 526 - INTERNATIONAL LAW
OUTLINE
- The aim of roundtable discussion
- Introduction by Ethemcan Turhan
- Murat Türkeş's article
- Ethemcan Turhan's article
- Osman Balaman's article
- Recommendation
- Questions
Climate change policy in Turkey: Current opportunities, persistent problems - Ethemcan Turhan
Turkey
- Turkey went through a turbelant year in 2016
- Global order: face serious challenges // populist turn
- Climate change is a crucial challenge - presenting severe socioecological and economic consequences
- Turkey = lazy :(
- makes slow progress in the international climate change regime embodied in the UNFCCC
- is hesitant in moving domestically
- Paris Agreement which set a global target to limit global warming to significantly below 2°C
- Immediate & unprecedented collective action across the world
- Major transformations in the political economy & governance of modern-day capitalism
- A key prerequisite in joining the new climate deal & meeting the needs of a transition to a low-carbon economy = a political will
- Rigorous academic work & informed advocacy for public awareness by civil society
Political Will
Climate Change Policy and the Cost of Inaction: an Instıtutional account from Turkey
Histocial context of Turkey's involvement in climate change negotiations
Though Turkey did join the international process in time, no real progress was made thereafter!
1988: preparation of "Protection of Global Climate for Present and Future Generations of Mankind"
Turkey's special circumstances
Special Circumstances
- 1991-1992: beginning of climate change efforts
- 1992: UNCED, Rio de Janerio
- Turkey: objection to its initial listing in the annexes of the UNFCCC
- Defending its position as a developing country
- Turkey's request did not receive support
- 2000: different approach at the UN Climate Change Conf., the Hague - "special circumstances"
- 2001: request accepted, Marrakesh
Does climate justice mean for Turkey on national and international levels after more than 2 decades of engagement with the international climate change?
?
meaning of climate justice for Turkey
- What are the interdisciplinary opportunities and challenges of climate change studies in Turkey?
- Climatology = Metereology (before)
- a new multidisciplinary field of study
- it is only possible to perform vulnerability and risk analyses properly when one considers social and economic matters in addition to technological ones.
- Academic work & project reports consducted in Turkey - simply published and forgotten
- Composition of the Turkish delegation that attends the UNFCCC meetings
- the Minister of Environment and Urban Planning
- no real experts
- necessity of a team be formed that is able to defend Turkey's "common but diffferentiated responsibility" in these talks
- includes a variety of social scientists, ecologists, and experts on energy and agriculture
Right here, right now: a call for engaged scholarship on climate justice in Turkey
- Climate change = having access to climate finance (it is not true)
- Turkey: the reception & provision of financing since 1992
- This process require beyond such financial concerns.
- "In reality, our emissions are not that big a deal." (Turkish delegations)
- Report: Turkey's share of global emissions amounts to 1.24 &%
- Turkish state: use old figures like 0.7 % // misleading
Schellnhuber's work on tipping points
- There are particular tipping points in both biophysical and social systems, beyond which the system dynamics are fundamentally altered.
- The transformation to a low-carbon economy can possible by energy democracy and cliamte justice
- Once you reach critical mass yet keep upping the ambition, it means that you may well exceed that tipping point.
Tipping points
What does exceeding the tipping point mean for climate politics in the Turkis contex?
- If we are serious about the 2° or even 1.5 °C commitment of the Paris Agreement, we need to end our dependence on fossil fuels.
- Transformation in the politics of agriculture, urbanization, mining, and energy.
A matter of capacity: climate change and the urban challenges for Turkey
- "The climate problem is not only a global, but at least equally a local challenge."
- Before: regarded as a problem of common property // global problem requires a global solution
- the failure of int. negotiations & growing impacts in different localities
CITIES -PART OF THE SOLUTION-
I. Municipal gov. are in a position control/manage many of the processes that produce emissions and shape urban vulnerability to climate change.
II. Cities provide economies of scale that make city-wide solutions to climate change more cost efficient and effective.
III. Cities as places where people from different backgrounds and various economic actors are located, can produce innovative thinking in regards to developing new solutions and indeed act as laboratories to test innovative approaches and solutions.
CLIMATE GOVERNANCE IN TURKISH CITIES
- The national government is reluctance to take serious action to address the climate problem.
- Municipal gov are highly dependent on the center in both administrative & financial terms.
- Cities are not provided with clear guidance or strong support from the central.
- The municipal involvement is shaped by proactive & motivated individuals at the loval level.
- No mean that nothing happens...
- Gaziantep and Bursa - considered as frontrunners of urban climate governance
QUESTIONS
1. What are the roles of non-state actors in climate change policy?
2. What is the United Nations doing to combat climate change?