Turkey to receive three billion euros to meet Paris Agreement targets

The Paris Agreement, signed in New York in 2016, was born with the aim of tackling the increasingly dangerous threat of climate change. The treaty - legally binding - has been signed by more than 195 countries. After five years of being in force, Turkey has decided unanimously in parliament to ratify this agreement that aims to reduce global warming to below two degrees Celsius compared to pre-industrial records. In order to meet this objective, countries receive financial aid, in some cases in the billions, as is now the case of the country presided over by Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

According to sources quoted by Reuters, the amount that Ankara would receive to facilitate its fight against climate change would amount to 3.1 billion euros. The lion's share of this amount would be provided by the World Bank - approximately 2 billion -, slightly less by France - 1 billion - and Germany - 200 million -. Turkey thus becomes the last country in the G20 group of emerging economies to ratify the Paris Agreement. However, some of the demands Turkey's leaders have always put on the table to join the agreement have not been met.

Turkey wanted to be reclassified as a developing country, which would give it access to significant funds and support for technological innovation. The memorandum that is due to be signed at the forthcoming COP26 in Glasgow from 1-12 November this year would not meet Turkey's request but would still guarantee the arrival of more than three billion euros in Ottoman coffers. That financial incentive was the key to Turkey's decision, sources told Reuters: "An agreement has already been reached on the amount and modalities and that is why Turkey ratified the Paris agreement".

The British news agency claims that up to four different sources - unnamed due to the sensitivity of the negotiation - do not yet take for granted that the deal has yet to be finalised before it is due to be signed in Scotland. In any case, the Turkish government's reliability has never enjoyed very high levels of trust. Its rapprochement with Russia over the s-400 anti-missile systems that will almost certainly provoke further sanctions from Washington, while at the same time asking the US to sell 40 F-16 jets, shows that when talking about Turkey, nothing should be taken for granted until it is completely closed and signed.

The Turkish environment ministry has declined to comment, while German government sources have declined to confirm the 3.1 billion figures, saying that talks are still ongoing: "There is no memorandum of understanding at this stage," they told Reuters. On the other hand, a spokesman for the World Bank, although he did not want to refer to the economic amount that Ankara will receive, has welcomed the decision of Erdogan's government to ratify the Paris Agreement and has expressed his desire to know in depth the measures that Turkey plans to take.

The WB spokesman believes that "in this regard, we are ready to extend our support to Turkey through impactful projects" that will facilitate the fulfilment of the goals set out in the treaty. Ankara has refused to ratify the agreement since it signed it in 2016, arguing that it cannot be considered a developed country for the purposes of the agreement and therefore not fully responsible for the carbon emissions generated by the country. However, the large sum that the Turkish government would receive for ratifying the Paris Agreement led to a radical change of heart within the Ottoman government.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced at the last session of the UN General Assembly the decision to ratify the treaty, a change of opinion that was surprising for many parties, but which, after the publication of the financial aid, can be understood a little more. The Turkish president said that all countries had a "historic responsibility" to do more to combat climate change. A responsibility that Turkey has shirked for the past five years and has only been willing to respond to when more than three billion euros have been put on the table.