Turkey to ratify Paris climate agreement, Erdogan tells UN

The Turkish government next month will submit the Paris Agreement on climate change for ratification to parliament, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday.

Turkey in April 2016 signed the landmark agreement, which aims to limit dangerous emissions scientists blame on global warming and increasingly violent and more frequent weather events such as floods, drought and storms.

But it has yet to formally ratify the accord by a vote in parliament, where Erdogan’s ruling coalition commands a majority of seats.

Erdogan told the UN General Assembly that Turkey intends to complete the ratification process in time for the November UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow.

“I would like to announce to the whole world here from the United Nations General Assembly the decision we have taken following the progress made within the framework of the agreement. We plan to submit the Paris Climate Agreement for approval to our parliament next month,” Erdogan said.

“Before the United Nations climate change conference, which will be held in Glasgow, we envisage the ratification phase of the carbon-neutral targeted agreement,” he said.