Climate change and environmental degradation concomitant with industrialization have become a major threat to the world. In December 2019, under the leadership of the European Union, a big step has been taken to fight climate change, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and transition to a clean, sustainable and green environment.
With this action plan, which is called the Green Deal, it is aimed to create environmental awareness in order to make the EU economy sustainable. For this, various policies have been developed to create a clean, sustainable and green environment.
The Green Deal Action Plan consists of 9 main titles within the scope of informing and raising awareness. These are;
- Carbon regulations,
- Industry for a clean and circular economy,
- Green finance,
- Clean, affordable and secure energy,
- Sustainable agriculture,
- Sustainable and smart mobility,
- Combating climate change,
- Diplomacy
- European Green Deal information and awareness
The Action Plan, collected under these 9 main headings, includes 32 targets and 81 actions in total.
The European Commission assists
central and local administrations
in designing the necessary procedures
and establishing the coordination
structures needed for the implementation
of green policies.
The European Commission has announced that it has prepared an investment plan of 1 trillion Euros in order to achieve the scope of this action plan. While this budget includes public and private sector investments, it aims to finance the economic transformation in the next 10 years.
The scope of investment priorities includes; - investing in environmentally and sensitive technologies, - supporting innovation, - providing transportation solutions with clean, cheap and healthy alternatives, - transitioning to renewable energy sources, - making buildings energy efficient.
The first step towards the Green Deal in Turkey on 15 July 2021 was taken with the circular called Green Deal Action Plan. In line with this circular, it was decided to determine a common strategy by combining the Green Deal policies with the targets set by Turkey.
In addition, 2030 Sustainable Development Goals were also brought to the agenda within the scope of the circular. Thanks to this agreement, it is foreseen that Turkey will gain an opportunity to make its production processes sustainable by reducing its dependence on imports.
Although it is known that this transformation process will have a certain cost, it is obvious that the carbon trade will also be chargeable. When examining from the past to the present, it will be possible to say that cheap raw materials and low-emission production can provide competitive power.
