USA Turkish Times - Turkeys share in warming is low, says Pepe

Turkeys share in warming is low, says Pepe

Turkey will not give up its responsibilities concerning global warming although its share in global warming is extremely low, being in the 72nd rank in the world with regard to the rate of emissions per person, said Osman Pepe, the minister for the environment and forestry. In an interview with Today's Zaman and Aksiyon weekly, Pepe answered questions regarding Turkey's plans to contribute to efforts against global warming.
“As Turkey rises in its economic development, its rate of emissions per person is gradually raising as well. Turkey has not yet finished its process of industrialization. While the contribution to the atmosphere of carbon dioxide in the United States is seven tons per person, this figure is around 3.3 tons per person in Turkey. Even if Turkey completely fulfills its duty regarding this issue, the outcome would not be that much important on a determining basis," Pepe told Today’s Zaman, adding that Turkey would hypothetically ease only one percent of the overall global warming problem.
"What we will do will not only serve against global warming, but will also be for the benefit for the environment and human health," he added.
Recently, Pepe was in headlines when he called particularly on housewives to be careful while using washing machines, irons and electric bulbs etc. in order to contribute to efforts against global warming. When asked what he was expecting from household savings in the name of efforts against global warming, he replied: "There is responsibility from all sectors, and there are also individual responsibilities. All of them have to work together. As three ministers, we have drawn up a report and in this report we revealed the government's stance."
Pepe listed the fundamental priorities of his ministry as: protecting the water, regulating the quality of the air and preventing the desiccation of land and loss of topsoil, describing these three as "vital" and "inseparable from each other."
"We're engaged in reforestation to preventing land erosion, and Turkey is a leading country in the world in reforestation efforts. We have established air monitoring units to raising the quality of air," Pepe explained, noting that citizens would soon be able to follow results of these studies on Internet.
"We're trying to be extremely transparent," he said. Pepe is planning to hold a press conference on March 16 in Istanbul, where he would publicly tell details of the ministry's ongoing studies.
The ministry plans to put emission measuring tools in factories which are located in industrial zones like İzmit, where there are more than 170 industrial sites.
As planned, Pepe will present today to the Cabinet a joint report, drawn up by his ministry together with the Ministry for Energy and Natural Resources along with the Agriculture Ministry, envisaging Turkey's future regarding water resources and global warming. The joint proposal of the three ministries' of measures for cutting emissions will be discussed at the Cabinet.
Turkey's gas emissions rose 75 percent between 1990 and 2004 due to population growth and industrialization.

Pepe, in an earlier interview with the Reuters news agency, said the Cabinet would also discuss a series of measures such as shifting civil servants’ working hours to earlier in the day to curb emissions.
The government has banned the use of old polluting cars and decided to provide incentives to producers of renewable energy for up to 10 years, in order to raise the share of renewable energy from its current level of one percent of total energy consumption.
In the same interview with Reuters, Pepe also said that Turkey is planning measures to curb its fast-rising greenhouse gas emissions as its economy booms, but cannot afford to sign the Kyoto protocol right now.
As only 36 percent of Turkey’s water resources are being efficiently used, Pepe proposes that the government should make investments for the use of the remaining 64 percent. He will also explain that hydrologic, meteorological and agricultural drought is closely related with water management. In Today’s Zaman and the Aksiyon interview, Pepe also expressed his willingness to accept the responsibility for the General Directorate of State Hydraulic Works (DSİ) as well as his current Cabinet post, responsible for the Environment and Forestry Ministry. Reportedly, all three ministries -- the Energy and Natural Resources Ministry, the Agriculture Ministry as well as the Environment and Forestry Ministry -- are currently competing for control of the DSİ.
“Water should be the responsibility of only one minister, and the DSİ should be under only one authority. When you look at governmental examples from around the world, and particularly the practices in European countries, you see that that water is considered together with the environmental folder. Water management and its allocation are extremely important. It is a necessity to have one authority here, in issues regarding both waste water and clean water. The one Cabinet position which best befits this responsibility is the Environment and Forestry Ministry. We hope to realize this,” said Pepe.

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