Page 66 - Çevre Şehir ve İklim Dergisi İngilizce - Özel Sayı

Türkiye Towards the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification Cop16

Besides, on the occasion of encountering with the representatives of other
countries during the COP16, bilateral conversations may be made. In such
cases, the relevant Turkish representative should have all bilateral relations
information notes with him.
Negotiations for Türkiye’s membership in the Middle East Green Initiative
There are initiatives that Saudi Arabia supports in the context of combating
desertification, land degradation, sand and dust storms in both national and
regional terms, which are of close concern to our country both technically and
politically. It is expected that such initiatives will be the beginning of a green
transformation in the Middle East. Since we are a part of the Middle East, it
is necessary to follow these developments closely. As part of these studies,
our intention to participate as a country in the Middle East Green Initiative
supported by Saudi Arabia has been submitted to the Turkish Ministry of
Foreign Affairs.

6. Discussion and Conclusion

Within the framework of the COP16 agenda, the preparation process
of country position in general, and the country views in particular, can be
expressed through five High-Level Interactive Dialogue topics under “5.2.2.
Thematic Forum Meetings”. At first, a working group was set up to prepare
Türkiye’s country views on five High-Level Interactive Dialogue issues and
speech texts in this direction. The first task of the working group was to create
core opinions on five High-Level Interactive Dialogue topics, which serves as
a roadmap. The core opinions on the five High-Level Interactive Dialogue
topics are given in Table 4.

Table 4: Core opinions on the five High-Level Interactive Dialogue topics
(UNCCD, 2024)

No Topic Core Opinions About the Topic

Agri-food systems should be restructured in terms
of sustainability, resilience and inclusiveness. This is
critical for ensuring food security, protecting natural
resources and adapting to climate
1 Sustainable, Resilient and Inclu- change. Türkiye can develop policies that opti-
sive Agri- Food Systems mize water use in agriculture and promote organic
agriculture. In addition, it may be recommended
to strengthen small-scale farmers and expand
climate-friendly agricultural practices.

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