Turkish parliament ratifies Paris climate agreement

Turkish parliament ratifies Paris climate agreement

Turkey's parliament ratified the Paris climate agreement on Wednesday, making it the last G20 country to do so, after holding off for years due to what it saw as injustices in its responsibilities as part of the agreement.

Turkey has been a signatory to the Paris agreement since April 2016. But Ankara had not ratified the deal, arguing that it should not be considered a developed country as part of the agreement, which gives it more responsibility, as Turkey is historically responsible for a very small share of carbon emissions.

Announcing that Turkey would ratify the deal at the United Nations General Assembly last month, President Tayyip Erdogan said countries that have a "historical responsibility" for climate change should make the most effort.

"Whoever made the most damage to nature, our air, our water, our soil, the earth; whoever savagely exploited natural resources needs to make the largest contribution to the fight against climate change," he said.

On Wednesday, 353 members of Turkey's parliament ratified the agreement unanimously, Reuters reported.

A statement approved by parliament said Turkey was ratifying the deal as a developing country and would implement it as long as it did not "harm its right to economic and social development."

The Paris agreement aims to limit the global average temperature rise to "well below" 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and "make efforts" to limit it to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

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