The first edition of the Environment Forum, an event organized by Anadolu Agency, opened in Istanbul on Thursday.
As nature suffers from the drawbacks of industrialization and technological developments, "timely and adequate action" needs to be taken to prevent environmental problems, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said in a speech at the forum.
"Industrialization, technological advances and human-driven effects have unfortunately wreaked serious damage to nature and the environment. Every year, we see and feel the effects of this destruction more and more all over the world. If timely and adequate action is not undertaken, environmental disasters, air pollution, water and food security, and biodiversity loss will reach irreversible levels," Erdoğan said in a video message to the forum.
The Environment Forum, held under the theme of "Reshaping the Narrative of Environmental and Climate Crises," seeks to raise awareness of the climate crisis and other environmental issues. Along with the president, first lady Emine Erdoğan, who champions environmental causes including the landmark Zero Waste Project, are attending the event. Other dignitaries include Vice President Fuat Oktay, the Presidential Communications Director Fahrettin Altun, and Minister of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change Murat Kurum. UNDP Türkiye Resident Representative Louisa Vinton, and Ovais Sarmad, the deputy executive secretary of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) are also scheduled to address the event. Among the forum's international participants are Portugal's former Minister of Europe Bruno Macaes, CEO and General Director of Italian news agency ANSA Stefano De Alessandri, global climate and environment news editor at Associated Press Peter Prengaman, and Arturo Larena, the climate director of Spain's EFE Agency.
The forum, with the participation of representatives of many local and foreign nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and international organizations, politicians, academics and journalists, features sessions on Clean Energy for Sustainable Development, The Media's Approach to Natural Disasters and Climate Crisis, and Responsibility Sharing, as well as issues such as climate change, energy, the media's view of climate change and environmental education.
The event aims to tackle issues such as the need to create a new media language on environmental and climate issues, international news agencies raising global awareness, the duties of traditional and new media outlets, and the pursuit of environmental awareness in new news areas.
Erdoğan said Türkiye has always considered the fight against climate change and environmental problems as one of its main concerns, and it has taken steps over the last two decades to protect nature and the environment, and to combat climate change. "We believe that protecting the environment, which is the shared living area of all people, is not a favor, but a responsibility. Although our historical responsibility for greenhouse gas emissions is less than 1%, combating climate and environmental problems is one of our top priorities," he added.
Türkiye has reaped the benefits of sincere efforts in promoting renewable energy, waste management, forest expansion and numerous other areas. "In the use of renewable energy, Türkiye recently rose to fifth place in Europe and 12th in the world. We achieved this by increasing the share of renewable energy to 55% of our total energy," he outlined.
Türkiye also increased its forested areas to 23 million hectares, while becoming the country in Europe that expanded its forestland the most. "Our efforts to establish 81 million square meters of national gardens in 81 provinces continue unabated. While designing our country's first domestic car, the Togg, as a fully electric vehicle, we were conscientious of our environmental responsibilities," Erdoğan explained.
