ECO-TURKEY

Call from Local Organizations to Exit Coal

Life advocates from all over Anatolia have once again reiterated their call for "get rid of coal, save the future" on the occasion of COP29, aiming for a climate-friendly Turkey.

During COP29, where intense discussions on climate finance and "moving away from fossil fuels" took place, 16 local non-governmental organizations demanded Turkey's fair exit from coal.

Turkey announced its long-term climate strategy during COP29 but did not include any policy on exiting coal. The Minister of Environment, Urbanization, and Climate Change, in response to a question, stated that fossil fuels would be phased out but did not specify a date.

We want a coal-free   Turkey in 2030

While closely following COP29, 16 non-governmental organizations emphasized the urgent need for action, not words, in response to the increasingly frequent and severe climate crisis: "Scientists have long highlighted that to limit global average temperature increases to 1.5 degrees, emissions must be reduced by 45% compared to 2010 levels by 2030. However, with each passing second, our window of opportunity is narrowing."

The organizations stated that the most concrete step to keep the 1.5-degree target alive is to exit fossil fuels, especially coal, and continued their statement as follows: "Unfortunately, our country's climate record is full of failures. While even England, where the Industrial Revolution began, shut down its last coal-fired power plant last month, and over 50 countries have announced a gradual exit schedule from coal, Turkey's persistence in coal is not only incompatible with scientific facts but also endangers our future. Moreover, instead of exiting coal, billions of dollars in subsidies are poured into the coal sector every year, placing a significant burden on our country's public resources."

The organizations referred to the ongoing struggles against thermal power plants and coal mines in various cities of Turkey; they highlighted the attempts to build a new unit at the Afşin-Elbistan A Thermal Power Plant in Kahramanmaraş, the reintroduction of a coal-fired thermal power plant project in Eskişehir's fertile Alpu agricultural area, the efforts to destroy Akbelen Forest in Muğla Milas for coal mining, and the drilling of the Kazdağları, one of the world's significant biodiversity hotspots, along with other regions of the country due to mining projects.

For a livable, healthy future beyond coal, the organizations demanded that Turkey urgently declare a planned, phased, and just exit plan from coal that ensures no one is left unemployed, uninsured, unhealthy, or without energy. They also called on Turkey to set a target of "achieving coal exit by 2030" in its new Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC), which Turkey, like every country that has ratified the Paris Agreement, is obliged to update in 2025.

Organizations signing the call:

Antakya Environmental Protection Association, Avdan Platform, Bartın Platform, Çan Environmental Association, Environmental and Consumer Protection Association, Nature and Environment Protection Association, Eastern Mediterranean Environmental Platform, Aegean Environment and Culture Platform, Eskişehir Environment Protection and Development Association, Foça Environment and Culture Platform, Life and Nature Protection Platform, İkizköy Environment Committee, Kazdağı Association for the Protection of Natural and Cultural Assets, Muğla Environment Platform, Social Rights Association, Yırca Village Association

(Source: www.iklimhaber.org)