Speech at The High Level Segment of the UNFCCC Cop 15 by H.E. Abdullah Gül, President of the Republic of Turkey

"Honorable President,
Esteemed Heads of State and Government,
Mr. Secretary General,
Distinguished Delegates,
On behalf of the Republic of Turkey, I would like to express my most sincere thanks and appreciation to the Government and people of Denmark for hosting this historic Conference.
Climate change is one of the most urgent and greatest challenges that humankind faces today.
We are facing a problem that will ultimately affect everyone and future generations.
Combating climate change is a long term responsibility that requires the international community as a whole to take efficient measures to ensure sustainable development and prosperity around the globe.
Excellencies,
Distinguished Delegates,
I would like to underline that humanity has entered an era where the destiny of all peoples is strongly intertwined. No one has the right to say: "I live only in my own country, my own region".
Global events and trends do not recognize international borders.
Global problems require global solutions.
And, it is in this spirit of global cooperation that we have made significant progress during the past two years.
In Bali, we drew a road map with the objective of creating a long-term cooperative framework to enable the full, effective and sustained implementation of the Convention.

But, now is the time for further action.
It is the view of Turkey that the Copenhagen Conference should produce a comprehensive document.
Our ultimate goal in Copenhagen should be to reach a fair, equitable and effective agreement based on one of the basic principles of the Convention: That is common but differentiated responsibilities.
All countries should assume responsibility to do their part in accordance with their respective capabilities.
In other words, there should be no free riders.
This new document must also reflect the main objective of the Framework Convention and the Kyoto Protocol.
It must also fulfill the mandate of the Bali Action Plan which is based on the four pillars of mitigation, adaptation, technology and finance.
Scientific evidence has shown that the global costs of mitigation and adaptation will continue to increase.
In that respect, developed countries should assume immediate and ambitious emission reduction commitments taking into account their historic responsibilities.
Additionally, developing countries should accelerate their transition into modern low-carbon economies.
However, such an important transition requires technology transfer and financial support from the developed countries.
Distinguished Delegates,
Turkey is situated in the Eastern Mediterranean region, which has been identified by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change as one of the most vulnerable regions to the adverse impact of climate change.
The consequence of this fact is that we will have to take comprehensive adaptation actions, placing additional financial burden on our economy.
Turkey is a rapidly developing country. Our economic and social development continues in a sustainable manner.
During the last two decades, we have recorded high growth rates.

Yet, basic indicators such as per capita income, per capita primary energy consumption, and greenhouse gas emissions place Turkey in the category of a middle-income developing country.
This means that we are in a situation different from that of other Annex I Parties.
It would be wrong to define all Annex I countries as being developed.
Turkey is a case in point, which must receive technology and financial support to realize its national mitigation and adaptation objectives.
In addition, we have taken various important measures with a view to combating climate change.
We have promoted renewable energy and energy efficiency including enacting the necessary legislation.
Our aim is to make full use of the hydro, wind, solar and geothermal power potential of Turkey.
We are also committed to increase sink areas by afforestation actions and by deforestation control.
Turkey has already started an ambitious afforestation campaign with a target of 2.3 million hectares of land in a five year period from 2008 to 2013.
Another important information I would like to share with you is that we have successfully organized the Fifth World Water Forum in İstanbul this year with the participation of 33.000 people from all over the world.
During the Forum climate change and adaptation actions were among the themes discussed.
We seek to increase and speed up these efforts.
We are working to complete our basic infrastructure including in the energy and transport sectors with the objective of developing a low-carbon economy.
Given our economic and financial constraints, this can only be achieved with financial and technological support from developed countries.
To conclude, I wish to stress that Turkey is willing to take part in the post-2012 new climate change regime that is fair, equitable, inclusive, transparent and achievable.
Thank you."