Erdoğan: Turkey pulls its weight in tackling climate crisis

Turkey as a "responsible member of the international community" will continue to pull its weight in tackling the climate crisis and ensuring clean energy transformation, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Friday.

"We are putting our signature under a great success story in energy transformation, renewable energy and energy efficiency," he said in a video statement to the UN High-Level Dialogue on Energy.

Turkey, he added, ranks fifth in Europe and 12th in the world in installed power based on renewable energy.

The president said Turkey's renewable share in installed electrical power is 53%.

Describing global warming and climate change as one of the most important challenges in human history, Erdoğan said that even the most remote corners of the world are facing natural disasters, health problems, and economic and social struggles triggered by the climate crisis.

"This crisis can only be managed through global cooperation. For this, we must not leave anyone behind and ensure fair burden-sharing. It is obvious that the energy sector will make the most important contribution in this regard," he said.

"The formula here is also clear: the use of traditional energy sources should be reduced, renewable and clean energy resources should be extended, and energy efficiency should be increased. The purpose of this meeting is to focus on the Sustainable Development Goal 7, which basically summarizes the issues I mentioned," he added.

Erdoğan said it is clear that energy transformation is not "an easy process," and that it not only affects all institutions, markets and consumers in the energy sector, but also has an impact on a global, national and local level.

"This is why universal or uniform approaches to energy conversion should be avoided, and appropriate policies should be developed with specific circumstances of countries being taken into account," he said.

In this regard, the Turkish leader explained, his country closely follows developments on alternative energy, green hydrogen, clean combustion and carbon capture technologies, and offshore wind and wave energy technologies, which are emphasized in the European Green Deal.

The high-level dialogue is the first UN gathering on energy since 1981, and comes ahead of the COP26 conference on climate change in Glasgow, Scotland in November.