Days after President Donald J. Trump
decided to pull the United States out of Paris Climate Agreement in a move that rattled the entire world, Turkey announced that it suspended ratification process of the agreement although it was among the signatory countries last year.
President Trump’s decision to revamp U.S. policy on leading international efforts to curb greenhouse gas emissions and to fight global warming left advanced industrialized countries in the West bewildered. But it did not open a major crack among the major Western countries in their commitment to collectively push back ever-worsening global warming.
But Turkey, which signed the landmark deal in April 2016, began to drag its foot. Turkey’s Environment and Urban Affairs Ministry voiced its doubts over the durability of the accord after withdrawal of the U.S., which is the main financial contributor to the Green Climate Fund.
As part of the fund, advanced economies have pledged to $10.3 billion to help poor nations reduce greenhouse gas emissions. After signing the accord, Turkey also expressed interest to benefit from the fund to finance its efforts to address the effects of climate change in the country.
But the Ministry appeared skeptical after the Trump administration had said it will stop financially contributing to the Fund. The U.S. has so far provided $1 billion.
The Turkish Parliament has yet to ratify Paris Climate Agreement and the Ministry made clear that it suspends the legislative process to finalize the approval of the deal until getting a thorough review of ramifications of the U.S. pullout.
Turkey wants to see a clear picture about the future of the accord before being a full part of it, according to a report by the Haberturk daily. As the first step, Ankara will monitor the fate of the deal in its entirety. Secondly, the Turkish government will seek to secure payments from the Green Climate Fund citing its status as a developing country.
Turkey aims to make a significant investment in alternative energy sources, green technologies to reduce greenhouse gas emission.
With U.S. withdrawal from the historic deal, China has found a new ground to lead global efforts to battle rising temperatures in concert.
Embracing an isolationist creed of “America First” policy, Mr. Trump denounced shouldering global responsibilities in environmental issues, arguing “negative impact” of regulations for U.S. businesses.
“I was elected to represent the citizens of Pittsburgh, not Paris,” the U.S. president said when he announced the pullout decision on Thursday.
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