Turkey has passed a law to establish a national Emissions Trading System. While the legislation will further empower the Climate Change Directorate to enforce environmental regulations, climate advocates hoped for a more robust plan, as reported by the Middle East Eye. 

What's happening?

Back in 2016, Turkey signed the Paris Agreement, a legally binding agreement to limit the rise of global temperatures to 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit above preindustrial levels. Five years later, it ratified its commitment, also signing a deal to receive $3.2 billion from Germany and France to domestically transition to non-polluting, renewable energy, according to the report. 

Now, Turkey's new law will place a cap on carbon pollution in some sectors and mandate the participation of certain businesses.

"With this law, the most critical threshold of our 2053 Net Zero Emission and Green Development targets, we will provide a freer research and development environment without being influenced by any country in developing new technologies," climate change minister Murat Kurum said, per the Middle East Eye. 

The passage of the legislation comes as a tax on carbon-intensive products entering the European Union is set to begin next year, including aluminium, cement, electricity, fertilizers, hydrogen, iron, and steel, which make up roughly 10.5% of Turkey's exports to the EU. 

Why is this important?

A warming climate is contributing to an increase in prolonged droughts, heat waves, and wildfires in Turkey and other Mediterranean countries, with one study in Nature noting the Mediterranean region has long been considered a "climate change hotspot."  

The passage of the bill, which would support efforts to reduce harmful pollution, came as wildfires blazed in the southern provinces of Izmir and Hatay, displacing at least 50,000 people. 

While climate advocates celebrated the legislation as a move in the right direction, they also felt it didn't go far enough to create more meaningful change. Environmental law charity ClientEarth pointed out the bill failed to outline a plan to phase out dirty fuels, which account for the majority of the heat-trapping pollution entering the atmosphere, per the Middle East Eye. 

ClientEarth also noted that the legislation lacks clear goals to reduce pollution in the medium term, doesn't empower civil society to engage in climate decision-making, and hasn't established an independent advisory body to oversee progress. 

What's being done about this?

ClientEarth lawyer Gizem Koc told the Middle East Eye that the law was "far from ideal but still significant" because it "sends a message to other segments of the government and also the courts that climate change is a very important issue for the government."

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"Ministries may no longer tell us that Turkey's commitments under the Paris Agreements are not binding," Koc explained. Yet challenges remain, with climate denial becoming increasingly common among politicians and media personalities in the country, per the report. 

Parliament is also set to allow mining projects to proceed that would damage some of Turkey's olive groves, forests, and pastures, and ClientEarth warned this would "seriously undermine" the benefits of the new climate law. However, the silver lining is that the "far from ideal" legislation could be a launching point to challenge some of these projects. 

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