Turkey wins first fossil of the day award of COP22

Each UN climate conference Climate Action Network gives awards to those nations that do the most in retarding negotiations.

For COP22 on Day 1 that award went to Turkey.

Turkey won COP22’s inaugural Fossil of the Day award as it argued for financial support under the Paris Agreement, yet is still to ratify the agreement. Turkey has plans to build 70 new coal power plants that would add over 70 GW of dirty energy capacity. A very real carbon bomb that would undermine the Paris Agreement.




As ECO described;

Yesterday Turkey had the nerve to ask for an agenda item on financial support under the Paris Agreement and the Green Climate Fund. Brave, courageous, audacious—or simply ludicrously out of touch?

Unfortunately, it is possibly the latter, given Turkey’s plans to support the opening of new coal plants and increase its greenhouse gas emissions in the near term. Instead of pretending to access financial support under the Agreement, Turkey should do the simple 1, 2, 3: ratify, increase ambition in its national climate action plan and move towards 100% renewable energy.

For more on this read Turkey: Notes from a state of (climatic) emergency, written by Arif Cem Gündoğan, a doctoral candidate in Earth System Science in Middle East Technical University (Turkey)

Turkey is also bidding to host the COP in 2020.



The Fossil of the Day Awards are decided upon democratically in CAN daily meetings, which occurr each day at 2pm. Members of the CAN Network make nominations, discuss any issues around the nomination, and if necessary vote to select a nomination for an award. Mostly Fossil of the Day awards are made, but occasionally Ray of the Day awards are selected for outstanding positive negotiating stances. This award ceremony is one of the ways CAN influences proceedings at COP.