Following COP26, which was held in Glasgow last year, COP26 President Alok Sharma will travel to Turkey from July 4 through July 6 in order to advance and enhance the implementation of the historic Glasgow Climate Pact.
By pressing for updated climate commitments from all nations ahead of COP27 in Egypt, Mr. Sharma’s trip to Turkey will advance the work of the UK COP Presidency and further the important objective of keeping global temperature increases to 1.5 degrees.
To explore how to build on the major accomplishments of the COP26 Conference and how the UK and Turkey can work in implementing ambitious climate action, Mr. Sharma will meet with the Ministers for Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change, Energy, and Treasury and Finance.
Mr. Sharma will also have the chance to witness UK-Türkiye cooperation in action while in Turkey by visiting a solar farm that is the subject of UK Export Finance’s largest-ever guarantee for a solar project (£217 million). Turkey’s largest solar power facility, which is the size of nearly 4,600 football fields, will provide clean electricity to almost 2 million Turkish households when it is finished in late 2022.
Ahead of his visit Mr Sharma said:
“I am very pleased to be in Türkiye for the second time in just over a year. In 2022, it is vital that all countries honour the commitments made in the Glasgow Climate Pact to strengthen and revisit their 2030 emissions reduction targets this year.
“The transition to clean energy economies is accelerating around the world, including in Türkiye. I welcome the commitment from President Erdogan towards climate action, including a 2053 net zero emissions commitment, and look forward to seeing an updated NDC later this year.
“During my visit, I look forward to speaking with my Turkish counterparts and discussing how we can support the development of a green finance ecosystem in Türkiye, including the recent £217m of UK export finance which will help construct Türkiye’s largest solar facility powering two million households.”