Greenhouse gas emissions in Türkiye reached an equivalent of 564.4 million tons of carbon dioxide in 2021, rising 7.7% year-over-year, official data revealed on Wednesday.
According to the report released by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat), the energy sector had the largest share of total greenhouse gas emissions with 71.3% ahead of the industrial processes and product use sector with 13.3% and the agriculture sector with 12.8%. The waste sector held a share of 2.6%.
The latest figures shared by TurkStat also offered a comparison of greenhouse emissions nearly three decades ago and in 2021, according to which energy sector emissions were calculated at 402.5 million tons in 2021; thus surging by 188.4% since 1990, and by 9.8% when compared to 2020.
Similarly, emissions from the industrial processes and product use sectors were calculated at 75.1 million tons in 2021, which increased by 228.7% compared to 1990, increasing by 10.6% year-on-year.
Agriculture sector emissions, on the other hand, were calculated at 72.1 million tons in 2021, decreasing by 1.5% when compared to 2020 but rising by 56.5% when compared to 1990. The remaining emissions from the waste sector accounted for 14.7 million tons in 2021, which increased by 32.6% compared to 1990 but decreased by 9.9% compared to 2020.
As per the TurkStat report, the biggest share in carbon emissions was observed in the energy sector, with 85.2% of total emissions originating from the mentioned sector including 32.7% originating from electricity and heat production, a subcategory of the energy sector.
The rest of the 14.5% of carbon emissions originated from the industrial processes and product use sector, while the agriculture and waste sectors accounted for 0.3% of emissions in 2021.
Türkiye, like other G-20 member states, ratified the 2014 Paris Climate agreement and is seeking for extending postulates and regulations that will lead it to the 2053 goal of achieving the ''net zero'' emission goal. The climate deal it ratified requires countries to halve emissions by 2030 and achieve a “net-zero” emission goal by 2050.
Using renewable sources of energy appears as one of the steps that the country has undertaken to decrease gas emissions in the upcoming years. At the end of last year, the regulation was passed, according to which Türkiye was set to oblige buildings bigger than a certain size to use renewable energy sources as of Jan. 1, 2023. At least 5% of the energy used by all buildings with a total construction area of more than 5,000 square meters (53,800 square feet) will have to be generated from renewable energy sources such as solar energy panels, wind energy and heat pumps.
Similarly, as part of the long-term policies, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan noted that green development initiatives, which are of concern to other countries as well as Türkiye, will continue to be included in the ''Century of Türkiye'' vision. ''Our vision, built upon green development, will be guided by science and technology. To achieve this, we will head toward our goal of net-zero emissions in 2053 through efficient use of our resources and through supporting research, development and innovation,'' he noted at the event held in the capital Ankara in January.
