Student representatives acting as climate ambassadors from throughout Turkey convened in the central province of Konya on Monday to take part in the country's first climate council, which also provided the opportunity of direct contact with relevant stakeholders in devising actions to prevent climate change.
Around 209 climate ambassadors from universities in Turkey’s 81 provinces met with Environment, Urbanism and Climate Change Minister Murat Kurum, making urgent calls for the transition to a greener Turkey.
"We represent not only climate ambassadors, but also 15 million young people who share common concerns about the climate crisis," said Mustafa Özaktaş, one of the young ambassadors, who read the Youth Declaration for urgent action in the fight against climate change.
Anatolia is a land that has a history of 12,000 years and has hosted numerous civilizations, said Nuray, another young activist, adding humans and nature have managed to coexist and live together for thousands of years in these lands.
"The 13th-century Sufi mystic, poet and Islamic scholar Mevlana (Jalaluddin Rumi), whom we commemorate in this city every year, said: ‘Don't think of yourself as a drop in the ocean. You are a huge ocean in a drop.’ This is the motivation for us as climate ambassadors.
"We believe that we will continue the ancient tradition of these lands, this lifestyle in which nature and human beings coexist in harmony forever," she said.
In order to achieve the goal of the Paris Climate Agreement and to comply with the Green Deal, the youths demand that all businesses implement cleaner and sustainable models in their production-consumption processes, said Ali Eren from Süleyman Demirel University.
"By declaring our country's roadmap to get out of coal by 2030, we call for more efficient use of our renewable energy resources and to work on creating an energy system that is not dependent on fossil fuels," he said.
Turkey's first climate council kicked off on Monday with the aim of establishing a roadmap in line with the Paris Agreement to reach net-zero emissions by 2053.
Over 1,000 representatives of public institutions and universities, scientists, business people, farmers and activists attended the event.
The country is expected to submit its updated nationally determined contributions at the 27th Conference of Parties (COP27), which will take place in Egypt this year and where green financing will be among the main topics.
A Climate Law, set for completion this year, is regarded as another milestone in the fight against climate change.
