The paid shopping bag practice prevented the generation of more than 1 million tons of plastic waste. Özhaseki said, “With the implementation, approximately 7 billion liras were saved and 41 thousand 881 tons of greenhouse gas emissions were prevented.”
Mehmet Özhaseki, Minister of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change, told AA correspondent about Turkey’s work on environment for 22 years.
Emphasizing that the Ministry has taken important steps in combating climate change and green transformation since 2002, Özhaseki stated that they became a party to the Paris Climate Agreement to combat climate change and announced the 2053 “Net Zero Emission” target.
Özhaseki said, “With all these, we have put forward our green transformation target. We realized the greenhouse gas emission projections of our country and submitted our National Contribution Declaration for 2030 to the United Nations Secretariat.”
Mehmet Özhaseki stated that they will shortly submit the draft Climate Law they prepared for the 2053 Net Zero Emission Target and Green Transformation to the Parliament.
Stating that they increased Turkey’s green presence with the amount of protected areas and ecological corridors they established, Özhaseki continued his words as follows:
“The amount of protected areas increased from 6.3 percent in 2011 to 12.9 percent in 2024. Our goal is to reach 30 percent in 2030. In addition, we have planted more than 7 billion trees during the AK Party governments. We achieved our goal of reducing annual soil losses below 130 million tons and reduced soil losses to 113 million tons annually. In order to reduce the negative effects of climate change and increase the carbon stock amount of our country, we are adding new ones to our sink areas. Our target is to create 3.5 million square meters of new carbon sink areas this year. In the fight against climate change and within the scope of our 2053 Net Zero Emission target, we continue our work on 75 million 886 thousand square meters in 81 provinces, and we aim to bring 100 million square meters of nation gardens to our country.”
“We reuse wastewater”
Minister Özhaseki stated that in the last 20 years, more than 3 million houses have been built to be zero waste compatible and climate friendly through social housing and urban transformation works, and within the framework of the Air Quality Improvement Program, 6 thousand houses in city centers have achieved emission reduction through clean fuel conversion in heating.
Stating that they showed the same sensitivity in the transformation of the houses under construction, Özhaseki said that they built 1671 kilometers of bicycle paths and 420 kilometers of green walking paths across the country.
Özhaseki also mentioned that they cooperate with local administrations on the environment, and said:
“We have provided 50 billion liras worth of cash support to local governments for environmental investments to protect and improve the environment and to live in a cleaner environment. Until today, we have covered half of the energy costs of wastewater treatment plants. We have provided 7 billion 700 million liras worth of support to local governments for wastewater treatment plants. We also reuse wastewater. As of 2024, we brought the reuse rate of treated wastewater to 5.3 percent. Our goal is to increase the reuse rate of wastewater to 11 percent in 2028 and 15 percent in 2030.”
The goal is to become the world leader in the number of blue flag beaches
Explaining that the inspection of seas and coasts is being carried out strictly, Özhaseki emphasized that the number of blue flag beaches has increased to 567 and that they rank 3rd in the world with this ratio, but their target is to become the first in the world.
Referring to the domestic and national “NEFES” software developed within the Ministry, Özhaseki said that they monitor basins, seas, air quality and highly polluting facilities online with the Continuous Monitoring Center, and that they increased the number of Air Quality Measurement stations to 380.
Özhaseki stated that they initiated the Turkey Carbon Market Development Project and Emission Trading System studies in cooperation with the World Bank and said, “We need to reach zero emissions in production by 2030 within the scope of the Borderline Carbon Regulation. In this sense, we will issue a Green Transformation Certificate in Industry, which will provide equal competition and green financing opportunities for our industrialists. We will definitely make the green transformation in industry a success.”
Minister Özhaseki said, “With the practice of charging plastic bags, the formation of more than 1 million tons of plastic waste was prevented. With the practice, approximately 7 billion liras were saved and 41 thousand 881 tons of greenhouse gas emissions were prevented.”
ÇEVREFEST will be held in Ankara on Thursday
Özhaseki reminded that within the scope of the Zero Waste project carried out under the auspices of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s wife Emine Erdoğan, they have implemented a zero waste management system in 188 buildings so far, and stated that they have increased the recovery rate to 35 percent in 2023 and aim to increase this rate to 60 percent in 2035.
Özhaseki stated that they increased the number of monitoring points in the Marmara Sea to 150, and that they monitored all treatment plants of 1000 cubic meters and above in the Marmara Region 24/7 online.
Reminding that environmental education and climate change courses were included in the curriculum in secondary schools, Özhaseki stated that they provided environmental inspector trainings in order to create environmental sensitivity in children and increase their awareness.
Minister Özhaseki emphasized that “ÇEVREFEST” with the theme “We all have a world” will be organized on Thursday at the Capital Nation Garden and invited all citizens to the festival.
