We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.
We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.
from Part III - Sustainability Aspects
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 21 September 2018
ABSTRACT
The track record of Turkish energy leadership is meagre. Despite the country's ambition, it has not managed to assert any meaningful leadership in regional gas governance. Having a closer look at the preconditions for leadership, this chapter suggests another leadership opportunity for Turkey: sustainable energy leadership. However, even though the country commands the necessary resources and potentials to become a sustainable energy leader, political will is lacking and its energy policy points towards the opposite direction: towards an expansion of coal. With sustainability and climate policy becoming ever more important in the international arena, this unsustainable policy choice in the energy sector might well compromise Turkey's international reputation way beyond the energy sector.
INTRODUCTION
The global fight against climate change as well as efforts to guarantee energy security call for the sustainable transformation of the world's energy systems. Turkey has ample potential to become a leader in the pursuit of this goal. It comprises significant energy saving and formidable renewable energy potential. Moreover, in Turkey's quickly growing economy, energy investment decisions are taken today that will determine the future course of Turkey's energy systems. This situation presents a unique opportunity to develop a sustainable and futureproof energy profile.
From a foreign policy perspective, this situation provides ample power resources for Turkey to make itself a sustainable energy leader in the global context. Leadership indeed plays an important role in Turkish thinking about foreign policy. The strategic vision of Turkey's energy policy, as declared in the Turkish Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources Strategic Plan for 2010 – 2014, is to make Turkey ‘the leader in its region in energy’ affairs. In this chapter, I take this vision as a starting point and ask what contribution a coherent and ambitious sustainable energy policy could make to acquire such leadership.
To give a convincing answer to this question, it is first necessary to define leadership, which I do in section 1. Section 2 briefly discusses Turkey's past and present foreign energy policy. I find that Turkey has been an active energy political player in its region. However, it has not managed to assume leadership until now, nor has it focused on sustainable energy in its foreign energy policy.
To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.
Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.
Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.
To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.
To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.
