President Tayyip Erdoğan said in the Parliament on October 27 that the resources are available for the Green Development Action Plan that was announced following the ratification of the Paris Climate Agreement. He also said that 3 billion 157 mln USD (nearly $3.2 bln), for Turkey’s Green Action Plan will be provided by Green Climate Fund. The President added that the funds provided under the memorandum will support public and private sector climate projects, and up to $66.5 million will be provided in grants.
However, on the same day, Turkey sent an urgent Note to the Secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. With the Note, Turkey withdrew its former request to be removed from the list of countries in the Annex-1 of the Climate Convention. Ankara wanted its former request also to be removed from the agenda of the Climate Conference to be held in Glasgow on November 1-12, 2021.
In other words, Turkey had decided to remain on the Annex-1 list. On the other hand, the developed countries in the Annex-1 list, can not benefit from the Green Climate Fund established for developing and underdeveloped countries. Presumably, Erdoğan might be misinformed.
But where would the nearly $3.2 billion come from?
Conflicting decisions
The law on the ratification of the Paris Convention was published in the Official Gazette dated 6 October 2021. It was stated in the article of the law that it was ratified with a caveat. That caveat was released on October 7, signed by the President. The caveat said that Turkey would implement the Paris Agreement “as a developing country and in the scope of nationally determined contribution statements”.
But the reality was that the Green Climate Fund aimed to support 154 countries with fragile economies, including the Least Developed Countries (LDCs), Small Island Developing States (SIDS), and some African States. Turkey has no place in this list of 154 countries since it is one of the G20 member countries and considered as one of the 20 largest economies of the World.
Turkey’s desire to be in the same category as fragile African countries to benefit from the Fund has been seen as a contradiction.
Loans from World Bank, France, and Germany?
According to media reports, the 3.2 bln USD amount that the President announced will be provided from a loan fund by the World Bank, France, and Germany. Reuters News Agency has already started to give details about this plan based on its sources.
The decision of Erdoğan to withdraw the removal request just before the G20 Summit saves Turkey from the position to show itself among the poorest countries for money. With this move, Turkey will continue to be among the 43 Annex-1 countries as it should be. This was a step in the right direction, despite the delay. However, in this case, it will not be possible to benefit from the Green Climate Fund. The President continues to imply that the Westerners are paying for the obligations of Turkey under the Paris Convention, probably because he was given incomplete or outdated information.
We will have to wait for an official statement to learn whether the $3.2 bln for the Green Plan of Erdoğan will come from the loans of the World Bank, France, and Germany or from other sources.
