DEAL TURKEY IN

Turkey to become key carbon market to kick CO2 habit
Yonca Poyraz Dogan, March 4, 2009 (Today’s Zaman)

"Voluntary carbon trading projects in Turkey have increased rapidly, reaching 45 from 30 in the first quarter of 2008…Turkey's ratification of the Kyoto Protocol, a UN-led pact to combat climate change, ushered the country into a new era…[R]atification of the protocol gave Turkey the right to become involved in climate change decisions after 2012, when the Kyoto Protocol will expire, and another commitment period will start…

"…As carbon markets have developed to bring buyers and sellers of carbon credits together, a number of projects…have been developed in Turkey...[but] only through voluntary carbon trading mechanisms because Turkey was not party to the Kyoto Protocol until February of this year…[Buyers] can be any entities that emit greenhouse gases to the atmosphere …[Sellers] can be entities that manage forest or agricultural land [or build renewable energy projects]…"

Turkey's wind. (click to enlarge)

"Despite the plunging economy, the value of the worldwide carbon market climbed 84
percent in 2008 to reach $118 billion and could reach $150 billion this year…Currently, 30 of the projects…in Turkey are wind power stations, 11 are hydroelectric power plants, two of them are geothermal and two are energy generators from biogas… [T]he Ministry of Environment and Forestry has started to study voluntary carbon trading mechanisms in the country…

"The latest data from the Turkish Statistics Institute (TurkStat) indicates that Turkey's greenhouse gas emissions…equal about 4.6 tons per person… [less than the EU nations’ 10.4 tons] but it is still a cause of concern because of the rapid speed of the increase….Turkey [the world's 17th biggest economy] will have take initiative, and the sooner it starts doing that, the less it will cost later on…

"Turkey will not have any obligations to reduce its carbon emissions until 2012, but it also will not have the advantages coming from the Kyoto Protocol's flexibility mechanisms. For example, Turkey cannot collect funding by hosting Clean Development Mechanisms (CDM), like China, which received sizable funds through CDMs to promote investments based on reduced carbon emissions."

Turkey's sun. (click to enlarge)

"However, Turkey's annual emission reduction efforts can be facilitated by sustainable energy development projects funded by voluntary carbon funds until it becomes eligible to host CDMs… [I]f Turkey had been in the right category under the Kyoto Protocol…its sustainable energy projects, especially wind power projects, would be 10 times their present level thanks to various incentives.

"…[M]any companies have already lined up for investment in sustainable energy development, including wind and solar power, considering the need for 4,000 megawatts of additional electricity every year…"