Why Do We Need the Climate Law?
What Are the Misconceptions?
What Are the Disadvantages of the Climate Law?
What Path Should Be Followed?
What Path Is Being Followed in the EU?
Final Thoughts
Why do we need climate legislation?
Climate change occurs as a result of greenhouse gases (primarily carbon dioxide [CO²]) emitted into the atmosphere from human activities such as the use of fossil fuels, industrial activities, agriculture, deforestation, and waste management, which accumulate in the atmosphere and create a greenhouse effect. Sunlight is absorbed by the Earth and re-emitted as heat, but greenhouse gases prevent this heat from escaping into space, causing the atmosphere to warm up. This global warming process disrupts the balance of ecosystems, leading to climate change. In this context, Europe is the fastest-warming continent, and the Mediterranean is one of the fastest-warming seas in the world.
The EU is striving to combat climate change in a comprehensive manner by utilizing its constructive power through regulations such as the Emissions Trading System (ETS), the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), and the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), which cover third countries with which it has trade relations, including Turkey. Turkey is also restructuring its legislation to align it with EU climate and environmental regulations, both to contribute to this global effort and to maintain its trade volume with the EU.
What are the common misconceptions?
Due to its location, Turkey is one of the fastest warming countries. As it is heavily affected by climate change, it adopted the Climate Law on July 2, 2025, which is based on a climate change mitigation approach. Although Turkey’s first Climate Law is a positive step, it has been surprisingly misinterpreted by the public and on social media:
-Regulations on logistics were perceived as a restriction on freedom of travel because the transportation sector is one of the most harmful areas of climate change on a global scale. However, the Climate Law does not contain any provisions restricting the right to travel. It encourages the use of public transportation and the electrification of public transportation vehicles, meaning the use of electricity produced from renewable energy sources instead of gasoline. This will help reduce emissions, limit global temperature increases, and combat air pollution.
-Another concern is the inability to eat meat and the disruption of livestock farming and agriculture. The law does not contain any provisions regarding artificial food or artificial meat. It aims to protect Turkey’s biodiversity, combat desertification and erosion, support livestock farming, control the impact of carbon emissions from livestock on climate change, ensuring food security, cultivating products resistant to the effects of climate change, and ensuring access to food threatened by climate change by protecting natural resources, ecosystems, and biological diversity, and by legalizing the dissemination of the necessary technical and technological means. Thus, it aims to ensure the continuity of natural products that people can eat, rather than deciding what they should not eat. Articles 5 and 6 of the law state that carbon sinks (areas where carbon is naturally stored) in areas such as agricultural land, forests, pastures, and wetlands must be protected and increased to prevent carbon sink losses. Article 6, in particular, aims to promote nature-friendly practices to ensure access to food. This does not mean restricting the agricultural sector or banning individuals from gardening, but rather ensuring the sustainability of agricultural activities and supporting a nature-friendly approach. The Climate Law aims to help a society access sufficient amounts of healthy food while taking measures against extreme weather events, whose intensity and frequency are increasing every day due to climate change, by strengthening agricultural policies. It does not prohibit individuals from growing products in their own gardens; on the contrary, it supports them. (Since vegetable and fruit production does not involve the use of fossil fuels, as gardens are not plowed with tractors. Similarly, in pest control, natural methods such as vinegar and walnut leaves are encouraged instead of industrial products that use fossil fuels in their production.)
-Regarding the claim that taxes will be collected from citizens under the ETS system: ETS is a market mechanism that limits the greenhouse gas emissions of facilities that release such gases into the atmosphere (through permits or allowances) and allows them to buy and sell these emissions among themselves. Therefore, there is no question of taxing individuals under this system. On the contrary, it is a system that ensures facilities emitting greenhouse gases that cause climate change bear the associated costs. Additionally, if designed to ensure climate justice, it can be defined as a mechanism to compensate citizens for losses and damages incurred due to the adverse effects of climate change, such as floods, storms, and wildfires. This mechanism can be financed by ETS revenues. In addition, ETS revenues can be used to prevent the workers and citizens whose livelihoods depend on fossil fuel-based sectors, such as coal-fired power plants, from being adversely affected by the gradual phase-out of these sectors.
-Regarding the claim that the Climate Law will prevent access to water: With global temperature increases, our water resources are under serious threat, and with the effects of climate change, Turkey is getting closer to becoming a water-scarce country every year. It is estimated that the current per capita water availability of approximately 1,500 cubic meters will decrease to 1,100 cubic meters by 2030 and could drop to as low as 700 cubic meters by the 2040s. A country is classified as water-scarce if its per capita water availability falls below 1,000 cubic meters. The Climate Law includes provisions that promote the effective management of water resources and sector-specific measures, such as in agriculture, that take climate change into account.
As can be seen, the Climate Law does not contain the provisions claimed. The public is being misinformed about a bill they have no say in.
What are the potential disadvantages of the law?
On the other hand, the shortcomings of the Climate Law should also be discussed and clarified. The main disadvantages may be as follows:
- The law will impose obligations on businesses in areas such as energy efficiency, waste management, and environmentally friendly production. While such measures may be easier to implement for large companies, they could result in significant costs for small businesses and entrepreneurs:
-Small workshops engaged in production may be forced to invest in filter systems and energy efficiency,
-Small businesses such as markets, cafes, and restaurants may face bans on plastic use,
-Small businesses operating in the food and packaging sectors may be required to change their packaging.
If the government does not provide support for such transformations, many small businesses may lose their competitive edge or face the risk of closure.
Without government support for such transformations, many small businesses may lose their competitive edge or face the risk of closure.
- The cost of environmentally friendly products and services is often higher. This situation may also be reflected in post-law prices:
-Price increases in electronic products due to changes in energy classes,
-Emissions-based taxes in the automotive sector,
-Increased production costs in the food and agriculture sectors,
-Restrictions and tax burdens on single-use products,
These may directly affect consumers, creating economic pressure.
- One of the most significant risks of the law is the unfair distribution of the burden. While large companies have more resources for environmental investments, small businesses may struggle to bear this burden. Additionally, some large firms may use “greenwashing” methods to superficially comply with the law while avoiding their core obligations. Furthermore, many business owners or artisans are unaware of what they are required to do under the law, and technical terms, reporting systems, and bureaucratic processes may lead to implementation errors and penalties. Similarly, municipalities and local governments will assume various responsibilities under the law, but their technical infrastructure or personnel capacity may not be sufficient to carry out this process. This may lead to regional inequalities in the implementation of the law.
- Workers in coal and fossil fuel-based industries may lose their jobs during this transition process. Therefore, it is not enough to simply create new jobs; the existing workforce must be retrained, and the transition process must be supported socially.
- Small-scale farmers may struggle to comply with new environmental regulations. New criteria may be introduced regarding issues such as fertilizer and pesticide use, and irrigation methods. This could make agricultural production and livelihoods in rural areas more challenging.
What Path Should Be Followed?
The EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, which has been implemented on imports to the EU in six sectors (steel, aluminum, cement, fertilizer, hydrogen, and electricity) based on carbon footprint, creates additional costs for industrialists in Turkey, which is among the leading countries exporting to the EU.
In order to reduce carbon footprints, it is necessary to transition to green technologies and take serious measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, based on the principles of equality, climate justice, precaution, participation, integration, sustainability, transparency, fair transition, and progress. Turkey’s priority steps will be as follows:
-By establishing an ETS system similar to that of the EU through the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), commitments will be made to reduce emissions in the domestic market, and businesses that exceed their allowances will pay for this, with the payments deducted from the price of the EU CBAM. Revenues from ETS allowances sales and fines will be allocated to incentives for Turkey’s green transformation.
-A Turkish Green Taxonomy will be established and sectoral and thematic reports will be prepared to guide financial resources and develop climate change incentive mechanisms, and embedded greenhouse gas emissions will be priced.
-Technological developments such as carbon capture and storage technologies and hydrogen technology for combating climate change will be monitored and implemented,
-Education and awareness programs will be organized to raise social awareness and educate the public about the effects of climate change. Starting with schools, curricula and education programs will be updated accordingly, and efforts will be made to train a green workforce.
– Climate change-sensitive practices will be developed to protect natural resources and biodiversity. Climate change-resilient product patterns (Agricultural product patterns refer to the diversity and distribution of agricultural products produced in a specific geographical area. The continuation of severe problems in agriculture, the failure to take measures to reduce high input costs, and the inability to market products at their true value are leading to a decline in agricultural production areas. Because producers who cannot find what they are looking for in agricultural production are giving up production) and natural methods and practices that will ensure the balance between the protection and use of natural resources, ecosystems, and biological diversity will be disseminated to ensure food security.
-Monitoring, information, and early warning systems will be developed to combat climate change-related disasters, and risk assessments will be conducted to reduce the damage caused by climate change-related disasters.
-Measures will be taken to prevent carbon sink losses in forests, agricultural areas, pastures, and wetlands, and the effective management of water resources will be ensured to minimize the effects of climate change.
As can be seen, the purpose of the law is not to manage or restrict people’s lives or impose an unwanted way of life, but to prevent the complete depletion of natural resources that have not been used properly up to now, to protect and increase what already exists, and to ensure that natural resources that have been used recklessly are sometimes reduced and sometimes transformed so that they can continue to be used for the survival, nourishment, and livelihood of humans. While the law must be interpreted correctly and its weak and unclear aspects clarified, it must be explained to the public that these aspects do not cast a shadow over the law as a whole. Otherwise, the law’s good intentions will be overlooked due to the public being misled.
What is the approach being followed in the EU?
While the Turkish public is being misled about the Climate Law and serious time is being lost, the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency – CINEA) announced the 2025 project calls (LIFE Calls for Proposals 2025) under the LIFE Program, the EU’s main funding instrument for environmental and climate action. With a budget of approximately €600 million, the projects aim to support concrete projects in key areas such as nature and environmental protection, climate change mitigation, and the transition to clean energy in Europe.
The main areas of support and the allocated budgets are as follows:
-Nature and Biodiversity (Nature and Biodiversity): 153.4 million euros,
-Circular Economy and Quality of Life (Circular Economy and Quality of Life): 73 million euros,
-Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation (Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation): 61.5 million euros,
– 4 million euros for the New European Bauhaus,
– 7.5 million euros for Environmental Governance,
– 91.4 million euros for the Clean Energy Transition.
-158 million euros for Strategic Integrated Projects (SNAPs/SIPs) and a separate budget of 30 million euros for technical support projects.
In the 2025 call, priority will be given to projects in the following areas:
-Protection and restoration of Europe’s natural habitats and biodiversity,
-Transformation of production and consumption patterns based on circular economy principles,
-Enhancing social and economic resilience against the impacts of climate change,
-Accelerating the transition to clean, renewable, and efficient energy sources,
-Strengthening environmental governance mechanisms and raising public awareness.
The LIFE Program supports innovative and evidence-based projects with tangible impacts, while ensuring that these projects are replicable in other countries or regions.
Final Remarks
In summary, the EU ETS has been in force for 20 years, and a second ETS covering buildings, roads, and other sectors will begin to be implemented in 2027. In this regard, Turkey, as an EU candidate and customs union partner with 42% of its exports going to the EU market, is lagging behind. (25% of our SMEs are ready for green transformation and the circular economy)
While time is being wasted in our country with unrealistic statements about the Climate Law, it can be seen that the EU continues to take supportive and solid steps to implement its climate law, even with the LIFE program mentioned above.
It must not be forgotten that whatever restrictions or measures the Climate Law imposes on Turkey, it also imposes on the EU. This law does not serve to allow any country to exploit or manipulate Turkey. These unhealthy thoughts should not make us forget that we are located in the hottest climate zone and have the fastest warming seas. We must be determined to achieve a green transition in the right way as soon as possible. When incorrect or incomplete information about the law reaches large audiences through social media, it slows down and hinders the fight against climate change. If the public is properly informed, we can have a powerful tool in the fight against climate change.
The Climate Law is a vital step for Turkey’s sustainable future. However, this transformation must be fair, inclusive, and supportive. Small businesses must not be left behind, citizens must be made aware, and access to information and financial support must be facilitated.
Otherwise, this well-intentioned visionary law could turn into a “PROBLEM” in our society. This would lead us to overlook all the positive aspects of the Green Transition, lag behind the times, and, most importantly, witness our country, which is experiencing both summer and winter at the same time, being overwhelmed by greenhouse gases.
