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The Türkiye country profile provides a concise overview of key trends across three dimensions: environment and climate; socio-economic change; and system change (energy, mobility and food) in the country. It highlights the main developments and challenges in these areas, including measures to support progress towards sustainability in Türkiye. An assessment for each of the three dimensions was prepared by national experts from the European Environment Information and Observation Network (Eionet) in Türkiye, based on 20 established indicators from the EEA or Eurostat.
Türkiye is a country with significant potential for development in many sectors due to its strategic location, cultural richness and young population. The geography, where various climate conditions coexist, offers natural advantages in many fields, from agriculture to tourism and from energy to industry.
However, global threats such as climate change, overuse of natural resources and environmental pollution are among the issues affecting the country. Nevertheless, Türkiye is adopting green transition and sustainable development principles to overcome these challenges, staying dedicated to national and international commitments in this area. Türkiye has prioritised developing adaptation policies against climate risks and increasing environmental resilience. Significant steps are being taken to promote the use of renewable energy, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase energy efficiency. In particular, the commitment to achieving net-zero emissions by 2053 and reducing emissions by 41% by 2030 are concrete indicators of this determination.
The earthquakes that occurred in 2023 are recorded as one of the most devastating disasters in the country’s history. Post-earthquake reconstruction efforts are being carried out in alignment with environmental sustainability goals. Environmentally friendly approaches are being adopted during the reconstruction process, with strategies implemented to preserve natural resources, construct green buildings and improve energy efficiency. In this way, Türkiye is taking steps toward a more sustainable future, both environmentally and economically.
Policies considerate of nature and the environment are continuously being developed to leave a healthier and more liveable world to future generations.
Key trends and assessments
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Summary assessment
Türkiye is a country where energy demand is growing due to an increasing population and growing economy. Through recent renewable energy policies and incentives implemented in Türkiye, renewable energy capacity has more than doubled. Türkiye has progressed to 11th in the world and 5th in Europe in terms of renewable power capacity. Türkiye continues its energy system transformation in order to achieve its net-zero emission target of 2053. This transformation will encourage innovation to increase electricity generated from renewable energy sources and develop low-carbon fuel systems. Among the priority targets set for the industrial sector are achieving maximum energy efficiency potential, promoting renewable energy production and use, reducing process emissions with technological transformations, encouraging the circular economy, disseminating sustainability reports and reducing the carbon footprint of products.
In line with the 2053 net-zero emission target and its green development policy, green growth technology road maps were prepared, such as the ‘low carbon roadmaps’ for the iron and steel, aluminium, fertilizer and cement sectors to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in manufacturing sectors that are subject to the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism. Sector-based scenarios have been developed for the green transition and reduction of carbon emissions. Furthermore, the policy steps to be taken, the investment needs and the technology options have been reported under each sectoral roadmap. Research and development and innovative-based solutions and the technological needs of the sectors have been identified as targets for 2026, 2030 and 2035.
Türkiye has prioritised addressing the health impacts of climate change through various initiatives. The national program and action plan for reducing the effects of climate change on health (2015) is under revision to enhance its effectiveness. The 12th development plan highlights the need for stronger institutional capacity and cooperation to mitigate health risks from climate change. Public health is also a key focus in the climate change adaptation strategy and action plan (2024–2030). In collaboration with the Türkiye Office of the World Health Organisation, the Ministry of Health published the Türkiye Health and Climate Change Country Profile (2022), outlining climate hazards, health risks and mitigation benefits.
Since the early 2000s, Türkiye has increasingly focused on the concept of sustainable development. Environmental legislation and institutional infrastructure have been strengthened. The Sustainable Development Goals were adopted in 2015; the Paris Agreement was ratified in 2021 and a national 2053 net-zero emission target was announced. Sectoral strategy documents have been prepared and implemented to fight climate change. A green deal action plan defining concrete actions to achieve green transformation was published in 2021.
To enhance transparency regarding sustainability in the private sector, Turkish sustainability reporting standards and climate-related disclosures standards were published in 2023. Corporate sustainability reporting standards were adopted, and large companies have been obliged to report their sustainability performance. Within Borsa Istanbul, sustainability indices have been established that includes companies with a high sustainability performance.
As of 2023, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) account for 99.7% of the total enterprises in Türkiye. Significant steps have been taken to enhance financing opportunities for SMEs to support their green transition. In 2023, Türkiye issued its first green bond worth USD 2.5 billion for financing green investments. Efforts to establish a national green taxonomy have reached the final stages.
Environmental protection expenditure increased from EUR 5.2 billion to EUR 8.7 billion from 2020 to 2023. The share of this expenditure in gross domestic product was 0.8% in 2020 and rose to 0.85% in 2023. The total cost of the earthquakes in 2023 is estimated to be around USD 103.6 billion to the economy. Reconstruction in the affected region put pressure on public finances.
The Gini coefficient rose from 0.410 in 2020 to 0.413 in 2024. Based on 2024 survey and 2023 income data, the share of the total income received by the top quintile of the population with equivalised household disposable income increased by 0.6 percentage points to 48.1%, while the share received by the bottom quintile increased by 0.4 percentage points to 6.3% compared to 2020.
Expenditure on education was 4.3% of gross domestic product in 2023. In both public and private education expenditures, tertiary education constituted the highest share, with 34.4% and 41.4% respectively. Tertiary education expenditure per student increased to USD 3 563 from USD 3 236 in the 2020–2023 period.
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The food system
Türkiye is adopting multidimensional strategies to ensure food security and sustainability. Below is an overview of recent progress.
Social and behavioural: The ‘Save Your Food’ campaign promoted food waste reduction, increasing the reuse of leftovers from 45% to 55%, doubling composting from 3% to 6% and improving public awareness of expiry versus best-before dates by 20%. It also led to a Guinness World Record with pledges by 790 000 citizens not to waste food. The Ministry of Health promotes healthy diets like the Mediterranean diet through the Türkiye Nutrition Guide.
Technological innovations: The Digital Agriculture Market platform connects producers directly to buyers. Modern irrigation systems now cover 6.7 million hectares (Mha), or 75% of economically irrigable land. In 2022, 77% of 57 billion m³ of water was for used irrigation; 71% of all water came from surface water and 29% from groundwater. This equals 51% of usable water potential. Sustainable packaging has increasingly been adopted.
Economic incentives: In 2023, TRY 63.4 billion in grants and TRY 409.2 billion in loans were provided to farmers. In 2022, 9 570 producers cultivated 5.3 million tonnes using good practices. Grants of TRY 3 billion supported 3 375 projects, creating 10 300 jobs, and 495 agro-industry projects received EUR 25 million in grants, creating 2 084 jobs. Under state-supported agricultural insurance, 3.1 million insurance policies were issued and TRY 8 billion in compensation was handed out. Young farmers receive microcredit and subsidies.
Legal and regulatory: In 2023, 1.3 million food inspections were conducted. Environmentally friendly farming and pesticide controls are promoted. Türkiye’s pesticide use (2.22 kg/ha in 2022) remains below the EU average (2.89 kg/ha). Front-of-package labelling rules support informed choices. Land consolidation efforts cover 8.5 Mha by 2023. Türkiye’s meat and dairy consumption is below the global average, but agricultural methane emission management is critical, requiring international support.
The energy system
According to the updated first Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC), Türkiye’s emissions are expected to reduce by 41% compared to the business-as-usual scenario by 2030. The NDC is economy-wide and includes comprehensive mitigation and adaptation actions, it also considers the means of implementation. Türkiye intends to peak its emissions at the latest in 2038.
The focus areas of Türkiye’s policies for decarbonising the energy sector are renewable energy, energy efficiency, nuclear power, natural gas as a transition fuel and hydrogen. In this sense, it is of great importance to diversity energy sources and maintain policies for the transition to clean energy. Policies such as the Renewable Energy Sources Support Mechanism and Renewable Energy Resource Areas, which are purchase guarantees to support renewable energy investments, have a significant role in achieving this, especially for wind and solar power. Türkiye is aiming to to increase its renewable energy capacity by fourfold by adding 90 gigawatts (GW) of renewables into its portfolio by 2035. In order to integrate these intermittent resources to the system, Türkiye has a USD 10 billion grid investment plan by 2030. Türkiye’s 2022 National Energy Plan forecasts energy supply and demand and targets a 65% share of renewable energy in installed capacity by 2035. In addition, battery storage capacity is planned to be increased to 7.5 GW by 2035 to meet the growing capacity of intermittent renewable power plants. The 2023 Türkiye Hydrogen Technologies Strategy and Roadmap targets an installed electrolyser capacity of 2 GW by 2030, 5 GW by 2035 and 70 GW by 2053.
The first National Energy Efficiency Action Plan covering the years 2017–2023 achieved 24.6 million tonnes (Mt) of petrol equivalent cumulative energy savings, USD 30.2 billion of energy savings and 68.6 Mt of carbon dioxide equivalent emission reductions. An investment of USD 8.5 billion was made for these savings. The Energy Efficiency 2030 Strategy and the second National Energy Efficiency Action Plan, published in January 2024, outline 61 actions and 266 activities across seven sectors, with an anticipated investment of USD 20.2 billion, aiming for cumulative energy savings of 37.1 Mt of oil equivalent and a 100 Mt reduction in CO2 emissions by 2030. Türkiye aims for a 15% energy reduction in public buildings by 2023 and a 30% reduction by 2030, supported by the Energy Efficiency in Public Building project for renovating public buildings for better energy efficiency.
While the number of electric vehicles in Türkiye reached 93 973 by 2024, the number of charging points increased to 17 233. According to the projections, in 2035 the number of electric vehicles is expected to reach 4 214 273 and the number of charging points is expected to reach 347 934. In addition to these policies and measures, Türkiye plans to establish an emissions trading system to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions through a market-based mechanism. The pilot phase is planned to start in 2026 and will last for two years. After the pilot phase, the implementation period is scheduled to begin.
The mobility system
According to the updated first Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC), Türkiye’s emissions are expected to reduce by 41% compared to the business-as-usual scenario by 2030. The NDC is economy-wide and includes comprehensive mitigation and adaptation actions, it also considers the means of implementation. Türkiye intends to peak its emissions at the latest in 2038.
The focus areas of Türkiye’s policies for decarbonising the energy sector are renewable energy, energy efficiency, nuclear power, natural gas as a transition fuel and hydrogen. In this sense, it is of great importance to diversity energy sources and maintain policies for the transition to clean energy. Policies such as the Renewable Energy Sources Support Mechanism and Renewable Energy Resource Areas, which are purchase guarantees to support renewable energy investments, have a significant role in achieving this, especially for wind and solar power. Türkiye is aiming to to increase its renewable energy capacity by fourfold by adding 90 gigawatts (GW) of renewables into its portfolio by 2035. In order to integrate these intermittent resources to the system, Türkiye has a USD 10 billion grid investment plan by 2030. Türkiye’s 2022 National Energy Plan forecasts energy supply and demand and targets a 65 % share of renewable energy in installed capacity by 2035. In addition, battery storage capacity is planned to be increased to 7.5 GW by 2035 to meet the growing capacity of intermittent renewable power plants. The 2023 Türkiye Hydrogen Technologies Strategy and Roadmap targets an installed electrolyser capacity of 2 GW by 2030, 5 GW by 2035 and 70 GW by 2053.
The first National Energy Efficiency Action Plan covering the years 2017–2023 achieved 24.6 million tonnes (Mt) of petrol equivalent cumulative energy savings, USD 30.2 billion of energy savings and 68.6 Mt of carbon dioxide equivalent emission reductions. An investment of USD 8.5 billion was made for these savings. The Energy Efficiency 2030 Strategy and the second National Energy Efficiency Action Plan, published in January 2024, outline 61 actions and 266 activities across seven sectors, with an anticipated investment of USD 20.2 billion, aiming for cumulative energy savings of 37.1 Mt of oil equivalent and a 100 Mt reduction in CO2 emissions by 2030. Türkiye aims for a 15% energy reduction in public buildings by 2023 and a 30% reduction by 2030, supported by the Energy Efficiency in Public Building project for renovating public buildings for better energy efficiency.
While the number of electric vehicles in Türkiye reached 93 973 by 2024, the number of charging points increased to 17 233. According to the projections, in 2035 the number of electric vehicles is expected to reach 4 214 273 and the number of charging points is expected to reach 347 934. In addition to these policies and measures, Türkiye plans to establish an emissions trading system to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions through a market-based mechanism. The pilot phase is planned to start in 2026 and will last for two years. After the pilot phase, the implementation period is scheduled to begin.
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