I've been in the city of Sharm el-Sheikh on the Red Sea coast of Egypt for the last couple of days to observe the 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27) climate summit.

Türkiye, represented by Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change Minister Murat Kurum, was the center of attention during this year's summit.

There are two reasons for this.

First, Türkiye's environmental performance in the last few years cannot be overstated. Türkiye, which has carried out very serious reforms and campaigns for protecting the environment in recent years, implements an uncompromising policy on emissions, despite being a developing country. I'm not just talking about the economic cost of the efforts. The Turkish government is implementing a radical transformation plan from a mental perspective as well.

The decisive statements of the minister in the "Statement of National Contribution" speech resulted from this situation.

"Within the scope of the 2053 net zero emission targets set by our President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, we are fighting against climate change together with all our sectors. We have stated that we will achieve a 21% reduction in emissions, which should be realized as 1.17 billion tons by 2030. Today, we have updated our National Contribution Statement," he said.

"We are raising our target to 41%! In other words, we are making a commitment that is almost twice as large. By reducing the increase by 41%, we will have reduced 500 million tons of emissions in 2030 alone," Kurum noted.

Türkiye's geopolitical position

Another factor that makes Türkiye important for global climate change and the environment is its increasingly valuable geopolitical position.

Türkiye, which is located on the migration routes from Asia, Africa and the Middle East to European countries, hosts over 5 million refugees. After all, it is a huge cost to provide shelter to so many people, who exceed the population of many European countries and are fleeing inhumane conditions. This problem naturally upset the balance of housing accessibility in Türkiye. Rents are on the rise.

The ministry has undertaken giant projects in order to sustain this global problem with the least damage to the environment. The construction of hundreds of thousands of mass housing has benefited the most disadvantaged segments. State lands, the infrastructure of which has been prepared in line with Türkiye's emission targets, will also be offered to citizens for housing and under suitable conditions.

Of course, we are not talking about a situation that only concerns Turkish citizens. Türkiye's climate, environment and urban activities matter to all of Europe, and even the world, which is experiencing economic and political problems because of the sudden and harsh movements of migrants.

Just like the fact that Türkiye has become the most important energy transition center.

In the coming years, all the energy en route to Europe, especially Russian gas, will pass through Türkiye, which is the safest country in the region.

We are witnessing that the natural gas shortage experienced because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine encourages a return to fossil fuels as countries renew their emission reduction targets.

Global entities such as the United States, European countries and the U.N. should act quickly to ensure full synchronization with Türkiye on climate and environmental issues and to increase cooperation.

Time is running out.