BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 20. Türkiye is actively investing and implementing significant incentives to promote the widespread adoption of electric vehicles, the country’s Minister of Transport and Infrastructure, Abdulkadir Uraloğlu, said at a high-level roundtable on "Greening Urban Transport" at COP29, TurkicWorld reports.
"Türkiye is making substantial investments and offering incentives to accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles. Specifically, we have developed our domestic electric car, the 'TOGG,' which is increasingly visible on our roads. Moreover, we are rapidly increasing the number of electric buses in our cities, and the Ministry is providing necessary support to encourage new transportation habits among the population.
We recently launched the ‘Türkiye’s Zero Emissions Goal’ roadmap project, aimed at creating a comprehensive, inclusive, and realistic plan to achieve zero emissions in the transportation sector. Expanding the network of bicycle and pedestrian paths is an important step in advancing environmentally friendly transport alternatives. As part of this, Türkiye is encouraging the spread of bike-sharing systems in major cities, offering citizens more eco-friendly mobility options and urging them to adopt sustainable transport," he said.
Uraloğlu added that Türkiye is increasing the number of bicycle lanes, making cycling safer and more convenient.
"Türkiye is implementing metro and light rail projects as part of broader urban transport policies. We are developing sustainable urban transport plans and building the transportation infrastructure of the future for our cities together with local authorities. In this process, we place great emphasis on designing individual urban mobility plans for each city, which helps coordinate efforts to reduce emissions and effectively plan transportation," the minister added.
To note, the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29), which will run until November 22, opened at the Baku Olympic Stadium on November 11. It is the largest event organized by Azerbaijan to date, and the first time in the region that it is being held in Azerbaijan.
Within COP29, the highest-level event - the summit of world leaders on climate action - was held on November 12–13.
The main expectation from COP29 is to agree on a fair and ambitious New Collective Quantitative Goal (NCQG) on climate finance. The COP29 Presidency has launched 14 initiatives that include linkages between climate action and the Sustainable Development Goals, including green energy corridors, green energy storage, harmony for climate resilience, clean hydrogen, methane reduction in organic waste, action on green digital technologies, and other topics.
In addition to being a top priority that creates the conditions for action, creating climate finance will also help fulfill the 1.5°C pledge by bringing everyone together.
The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change is an agreement signed at the Rio Earth Summit in June 1992 to prevent dangerous human interference in the climate system. The acronym COP (Conference of Parties) stands for "Conference of Parties" and is the highest legislative body overseeing the implementation of the Framework Convention on Climate Change.
A total of 198 countries are parties to the Convention. Unless otherwise decided by the parties, COP is held annually. The first COP event was held in March 1995 in Berlin, and its secretariat is located in Bonn.
