We, as the Sustainable Consumption and Production Association (SPCA), held the 7th Istanbul Carbon E-Summit on September 28, 2021 on a digital platform with the main support of the Ministry of Environment and Urbanization and Istanbul Technical University, and with the partnership of the public, local governments, civil society, business world, media, academia and the youth. The theme of this year’s summit was Green Recovery for a Climate Resilient Turkey: Role of Waste and Energy Management. Leading companies in the energy and waste sectors as well as companies from the cement, iron & steel, electrical and electronic goods, chemicals, ceramics sectors, and investment banks showed great interest in the E-Summit.
Istanbul Minerals and Metals Exporters’ Association (IMMIB), representing the steel, ferrous and non-ferrous metals, electricity-electronics (TET), service, chemicals (IKMIB), mining and jewelry sectors under the roof of Turkey Exporters’ Association (TIM), showed its pioneering stance at the summit. The goods sectors represented by IMMIB makes a total contribution of 35 percent to Turkey’s exports, and IMMIB creates a service export of $ 34.8 billion. In his speech, Tahsin Öztiryaki, Chairman of the Board of Directors of IMMIB, shared some good practices of carbon management in the İMMİB sectors, and elaborated on the utilization of electrical-electronic, marble and plastic wastes, and carbon reduction in the steel sector through improvements, reducing energy-derived greenhouse gas emissions of in mining, recovery of precious elements in the jewelry industry, the importance given to this issue in the R&D project markets, and the structuring of the Green Deal Committee within the unions. TET and IKMIB R&D project markets will be held in November.
Shell was the petroleum sector companion of the 7th Istanbul Carbon E-Summit. Shell’s 3D booth at the E-Exhibition attracted great attention. Shell achieved 177.8 tons of CO2 equivalent/year carbon reduction with its Solar Powered Stations, and it was honored with the 2021 SPCA Low Carbon Hero award. For carbon footprint reduction, Shell is working on the road to climate resilient transportation with Low Carbon Fuels (LCF) such as Biodiesel, Bioethanol, Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF), and Renewable Compressed Natural Gas (R-CNG).
In his message to the delegates, Prof. Dr. Mehmet Emin Birpınar, Deputy Minister of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change and Chief Climate Change Negotiator, said: “We see climate change as a security issue that knows no borders and is beyond politics. In this direction, we resolutely continue our efforts to combat climate change. There will be a lot to do after the Paris Agreement,” he said. After the E-Summit, Turkey ratified the Paris Agreement. The National Climate Change Strategy and the Climate Change Action Plan will be updated in line with the 2050 targets. The United Nations expects us to present our planning as part of the commitment to net zero emissions. From October 31 to November 12, 2021, the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) will take place in Glasgow. It is time for hard work, climate diplomacy and climate lobbying for a climate resilient Turkey.
