Carbon report envisions 20% cut in emissions

New research says long-term green policies will pay off after initial economic pain. Turkey could cut greenhouse gas emissions by 20% in 15 years by increasing the use of renewable energy sources – including solar, wind and geothermal power – according to a report, Anadoulu Agency’s Energy Terminal said.

Environmentally friendly policies – which may hurt energy-dependent Turkey’s finances at first – would pay off in the long run, the authors claim. The 100-page document, prepared by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and the Istanbul Policy Center, an independent research institute, was introduced at a press conference in Karakoy in Istanbul. The report comes ahead of United Nations climate change talks to be held in Paris in December, aimed at setting a new global climate change plan.

Erinç Yeldan, report author and professor of economics at Istanbul’s Bilkent University, said renewable energy sources including solar, wind, hydro and geothermal energy should account for around 40% of electricity production by 2030 in Turkey. Over 20% of decrease in our carbon emissions could be achieved, he said.

As of 2010, Turkey’s per capita aggregate carbon dioxide emissions stand at 4.13 tonnes. They score significantly below the OECD average of 10.12 tonnes, according to the report. However, Turkey’s greenhouse gas emission rate as carbon dioxide equivalent has increased in 2013 by 110.4% compared to 1990, according to figures from the Turkish Statistics Institute.

The report also says applying green policies will cause some losses in the national income at first, adding however: “After 2025, this loss will disappear… If we are patient, a new employment field through renewable energy will be created and Turkey will grow much more thanks to these policies,” Yeldan noted.