The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) sets an overall framework for intergovernmental efforts to tackle the challenge posed by climate change.
Parties to the Convention must submit national reports on implementation of the Convention to the Conference of the Parties (COP). The required contents of national communications and the timetable for their submission are different for Annex I and non-Annex I Parties. The core elements of the national communications for both Annex I and non-Annex I Parties are information on emissions and removals of greenhouse gases (GHGs) and details of the activities a Party has undertaken to implement the Convention. National communications usually contain information on national circumstances, vulnerability assessment, financial resources and transfer of technology, and education, training and public awareness; but the ones from Annex I Parties additionally contain information on policies and measures.
Turkey, as a member of the Organization for Economic Development and Cooperation (OECD), was included in Annex I and Annex II of the UNFCCC together with the developed countries when the Convention was adopted in 1992. At the Conference of Parties (COP) 7 in 2001, the name of Turkey was removed from Annex II of the Convention (Decision 26/CP.7) and Turkey remained as an Annex I Party of the UNFCCC, in a position that is different than other Annex I countries. Following this decision, Turkey acceded to the UNFCCC as the 189th Part on 24 May 2004.
Since its accession to the UNFCCC, Turkey has undertaken several activities to comply with its commitments under the Convention; one of which was submission of the First National Communication (FNC) to the UNFCCC in 2007.
The project entitled “Enabling Activities for the Preparation of Turkey’s Second National Communication to the UNFCCC” that is executed by The Ministry of Environment and Forestry (MoEF), implemented by UNDP and funded by Global Environment Facility (GEF), Turkey will prepare its Second National Communication (SNC) to the UNFCCC.
The nationally executed project will apply a nine-pronged approach to develop the SNC:
- National circumstances reviewed and updated;
- GHG inventory information reviewed and updated;
- Policy and measures (PaMs) assessed and analyzed;
- GHG projections reviewed, updated and links are identified in terms of total PaMs effects;
- Review and update vulnerability assessment, climate change impacts and adaptation measures, with more robust institutional and socio-economic impact assessment;
- Review research and systematic observations completed in terms of climate change;
- Financial resources and technology transfer;
- Review of national education, training and public awareness activities in Turkey;
- Preparation of the SNC of Turkey and submission to the UNFCCC.
The overall objective of the project is to assist the Republic of Turkey in implementation of obligations under UNFCCC by preparing its Second National Communication (SNC) as well as to strengthen its technical and institutional capacities to help the government fulfill its commitments to the Convention.
|