Germany to address Turkey's concerns on climate deal

By Ayhan Simsek

BERLIN

Germany will address next month Turkey’s concerns on Paris climate agreement after Ankara made its ratification conditional upon the fulfilment of promises made last year, the spokesman of the Environment Ministry said Monday.

Deputy Environment Minister Jochen Flasbarth will hold talks with relevant Turkish officials in August to discuss Ankara’s concerns, Stephan Gabriel Haufe told a news conference in Berlin.

He said Turkey wanted to be classified as a developing country to be eligible for the Green Climate Fund.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan made it clear on Saturday that Ankara would not ratify the landmark climate agreement, unless its Western partners honored their promises.

"Unless promises made to us are fulfilled, we will not ratify it at parliament," he told a news conference at the end of the G20 summit in Hamburg.

Erdogan emphasized that former French President Francois Hollande had promised him last year during the Paris climate negotiations that Turkey would be regarded as a developing country and would not face financial sanctions.

Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman stressed on Monday that while Turkey voiced its concerns at the G20 over the Paris agreement, it remained committed to the goals of the landmark deal. U.S. President Donald Trump was the only leader at the summit who rejected the Paris climate agreement.

Steffen Seibert spoke hopeful of a solution that would make Ankara to ratify the agreement which it signed last year.

"It is known that Turkey wants to be classified as a developing country. This was also discussed during the negotiations of the Paris agreement," he said. "We will continue to work with Turkey so that it would be in a position to ratify the Paris agreement".

As part of the climate deal, industrialized nations pledged financial support for developing countries for climate protection measures, technology transfer and capacity building programs.

Signed by 195 countries in April 2016, the agreement intends to mitigate the effects of climate change by reducing carbon emissions and limiting global temperature rise to below 2 degrees Celsius.