Turkey says Green Climate Fund 'nowhere near being sustainable'

By Aysu Bicer

GLASGOW, Scotland (AA) - The Green Climate Fund (GFC) is nowhere near being sustainable with its current structure, said Turkey’s chief negotiator for climate change talks on Thursday at the ongoing UN climate summit COP26.

"It is so obvious how little its support has been for the climate friendly projects as of 2010. It is a must that the administration and modus operandi of the fund is reviewed," said Mehmet Emin Birpinar.

The Fund was established to assist developing countries in adaptation and mitigation practices to counter climate change.

Birpinar said it should support countries in developing emission reduction projects, establish country offices and follow the projects.

He criticized bureaucratic hurdles, saying "the Fund must support emission reducing and adaptation projects without any condition regardless of whether they are from a developed or developing country."

Birpinar, the Turkish deputy minister of environment, also said the eligibility to the Fund should not be a precondition in regional projects.

It is not possible to solve the climate crisis unless the climate financing problem is solved, he argued. "The Green Climate Fund is unmanageable with its current conservative structure. There must be new initiatives."

Last month, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced that Turkey is set to receive $3.157 billion from the Fund as part of an agreement.