Climate change in Turkey

Climate change is affecting Turkey in many ways. The country is getting hotter, with more heatwaves and droughts. In 2025, temperatures in some places reached over 50 °C (122 °F), which is very hot for humans and animals.

Turkey has many different landscapes, from mountains to coastlines, so the effects of climate change vary across the country. This change also threatens the water supply to some cities.

Turkey contributes to global warming through greenhouse gas emissions. The country’s yearly emissions make up over 1% of the world’s total. Turkey gets its energy from fossil fuels and coal, which adds to these emissions. However, each person in Turkey releases about the same amount of emissions as the global average.

To help fight climate change, Turkey has a special group called the Directorate of Climate Change. They work on plans to adapt to climate change, especially for water resources and farming. Turkey will host an important meeting in 2026 about climate change, where leaders from around the world will discuss how to protect our planet.

Greenhouse gas emissions

Coal, cars, and lorries make more than a third of Turkey’s greenhouse gases. These gases, mostly carbon dioxide, help cause climate change in Turkey. A lot of these gases come from making electricity.

The energy sector, including transport, released 420 million tonnes of greenhouse gases in 2024. Turkey’s coal power plants are a big source of carbon dioxide. Road vehicles using petrol or diesel also add a lot. After coal and oil, the next biggest fuel is fossil gas, used in Turkey’s gas power plants, homes, and workplaces. Methane from livestock, especially cows, also adds to these gases.

Experts say Turkey’s high greenhouse gas levels are partly because of support for coal power plants and not charging for pollution. The government is supporting reforestation, making electric cars, and using low-carbon energy, aiming for net zero emissions by 2053. However, the plan does not include stopping coal use, and there is no clear way to reach the goal.

Impacts on the natural environment

Human-caused climate change in Turkey started in the 1970s. The weather is becoming more extreme, with heavier rain in some places and more droughts and heatwaves in others. For example, there were big wildfires in the south in 2021 and floods in the north.

Climate change is also affecting water supplies. Some areas are getting less rain, which makes it harder to keep rivers and lakes full. This puts pressure on power plants that use water. Turkey already has less water per person than many other countries, and this problem is expected to get worse. Warmer temperatures can make lakes drier and saltier.

Glaciers in Turkey, like those on Mount Ararat, are melting quickly and may disappear by the end of the century. Forests in the south may struggle to survive in hotter, drier conditions. Wildfires are becoming more common, and soil is washing away more easily. Warmer ocean temperatures are changing life in the sea, such as in the Sea of Marmara and the Black Sea. Some animals, like brown bears, may change their habits because of the warmer weather.

Impacts on people

Climate change is changing life in Turkey in many ways. It can cause money losses, like when floods damage things. The government and companies need to plan better to keep businesses safe.

Farming, like growing wheat, can have trouble with less rain and hotter weather, especially in dry places. This can hurt the whole economy. There are also worries about less water for power from rivers, and warmer seas may change where fish live. Some places people visit for fun might get too hot in summer, and mountains where people go to ski may not work as well.

Health can be hurt by more heatwaves, which are especially hard on older people, children, and those who are already sick. Wildfires and floods can also cause problems for people’s health and homes. Buildings may need more energy to stay cool because it is getting hotter.

Mitigation

Turkey is trying to lower its greenhouse gas emissions to meet global goals, but it has some challenges. A long-term climate plan was shared in 2024, but it does not include stopping the use of coal. Experts think Turkey needs to cut emissions faster and lower per-person emissions by half by 2030.

Turkey wants to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2053. The government has shared a climate plan, but it does not aim to reduce coal use. Some experts are unsure if the 2035 emission target will match the 2053 net zero goal.

Changing from coal to gas and growing solar and wind power could help cut emissions. Making buildings more energy-efficient is also important, since many buildings in Turkey are old and use more energy. There are plans to help electric vehicles and lower emissions from transportation.

Working together with other countries and putting money into renewable energy is needed to help Turkey reach its climate goals. Turkey is also creating rules to support a fair shift to clean energy, making sure workers and communities are not left behind.

Adaptation

The Ministry of Environment, Urbanisation and Climate Change leads efforts to help Turkey deal with climate change. Turkey has made plans to adapt to climate change, but as of 2026, it has not sent its plan to the UNFCCC.

In 2023, the Agriculture Minister Bekir Pakdemirli talked about changing how farms use water and picking different crops. Ideas like saving water in city parks were suggested, and Istanbul has its own plan for climate change. A study in 2023 said local climate plans should work better with local spatial plans. The World Bank is helping with flood control projects.

Society and culture

Education and research

Climate change education is offered to students in 6th, 7th, and 8th grades in Turkey. As of 2025, there isn't much training for teachers or school materials, but there is higher education and research at Boğaziçi University's Center for Climate Change and Policy Studies. In 2025, results will be measured by the Programme for International Student Assessment. İklim Masası (Climate Desk) is a news platform where experts write for the public and help journalists.

Activism

Climate Network Türkiye is a group of civil society organisations. Muslim environmentalists and academics often quote the Quran to support their work for the environment. In 2015, Islamic leaders in Istanbul asked Muslims worldwide to help fight climate change. In 2020, Turkey's first lady, Emine Erdoğan, talked about taking careful steps to protect future generations. In 2019, some Turkish schoolchildren joined the School Strike for Climate.

Petition and lawsuits

In 2019, environmental activist Greta Thunberg and 15 other children filed a petition about lack of action on the climate crisis by several countries, including Turkey. The petition challenged these countries under the Convention on the Rights of the Child. If successful, the countries would be asked to respond, though any suggestions wouldn’t be legally binding. In 2020, Turkey and 32 other countries faced a lawsuit at the European Court of Human Rights by a group of Portuguese children.

Media and arts

In the 1990s, Açık Radyo (Open Radio) broadcast some of the first media coverage of climate change. The station is still on today, and İklim Haber (Climate News) also covers climate change issues in Turkish and English. Turkish media often only talks about climate change during extreme weather events and usually doesn’t include expert opinions or views from civil society. Some think tanks, like Ember, are respected by both industry and environmentalists. The arts are helping raise awareness about climate change. Education on climate change is supported by the EU. Protests against opencast coal mining, such as at Akbelen Forest, have been covered by small media outlets.

Public perception

Many people in Turkey believe that extreme weather has increased and that human activities are causing the current climate crisis. Some construction companies have been accused of advertising their buildings as environmentally friendly without proper certifications. In a 2019 poll of six Belt and Road Initiative countries, including Turkey, solar power was the most popular energy source, and coal the least popular. Twenty-four Turkish cities committed to the Paris Agreement targets that year, and the United Nations Development Programme worked with the Turkish Basketball Federation in 2020 to raise public awareness about fighting climate change. In 2023, a draft law was proposed to include public information and add climate change to education in Turkey. In 2024, a climate portal was created where Turkish citizens can log in. Like most global public opinion, most Turks support action on climate change.

International cooperation

Turkey was the fifth-largest recipient of multilateral climate funds between 2013 and 2016, receiving $231 million through channels such as the Clean Technology Fund and the Global Environment Facility. In 2021, Turkey ratified the Paris Agreement, with all parliamentary members voting to ratify it. Before this, Turkey was one of the last few countries, alongside Iran, to not have ratified the agreement. It was the last of the G20 countries to ratify. Turkey will host the 2026 United Nations Climate Change Conference. Turkey sent over a thousand representatives to the 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference and joined various initiatives, such as decarbonizing cement production. However, it was criticized for not voting to phase-out fossil fuels.