Hurriyet English with wires
OluÅŸturulma Tarihi: Haziran 03, 2008 12:15
Turkey would have a voice in the new agreement after signing the Kyoto Protocol that ends in 2012, Turkish Environment and Forestry Minister Veysel Eroglu told on Tuesday in a presentation at a meeting of Council of Ministers, the Anatolian Agency reported.
The Turkish government decided on Monday to approve the Kyoto Protocol, the U.N.-led global climate pact, and will send a bill on the issue to parliament shortly. Â
"If Turkey ratifies the Kyoto protocol, we will officially be able to participate in all working groups established under U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change and Kyoto Protocol; and also negotiate arrangements unique to our country's conditions," Eroglu was quoted as saying by the Anatolian Agency.
"So, Turkey will have a voice in the new agreement to be reached after 2012 (when the Kyoto Protocol ends). Otherwise, we will face a finished agreement if we do not attend the planning and preparation process of the new one," he said.
He also told the ministers that Turkey would not be obliged to set a target in the first responsibility period (2008-2012) to reduce greenhouse gas even if it becomes a party to the protocol right now, the Anatolian Agency reported.
"Turkey would have great prestige in terms of its commitment to fight climate change which is at the top of the international agenda and is one of the most important problems of the world," he added.
Turkey had already completed the process of preparing to sign the protocol but had until now declined to do so because of concerns about the costs.
The Kyoto Protocol is a pact agreed by governments at a 1997 U.N. conference in Kyoto, Japan, to reduce greenhouse gases emitted by developed countries to at least 5 percent below 1990 levels by 2008-12.
More than 170 nations have ratified the pact, which came into force in 2005 and Turkey is one of the few countries to have failed to do so. Â
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