The Ministry of Environment, Urbanisation and Climate Change () is a government ministry of the

Republic of Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

, responsible for the environment, public works, and

urban planning Urban planning (also called city planning in some contexts) is the process of developing and designing land use and the built environment, including air, water, and the infrastructure passing into and out of urban areas, such as transportatio ...

in Turkey. The ministry is headed by Murat Kurum.

History

The Ministry was formed in 1983 through the merger of the Ministry of Public Works (, formed 3 May 1920) and the Ministry of Development and Housing (, formed 1958). The result was the Ministry of Public Works and Housing (), which was renamed to the Ministry of Environment and Urbanisation in 2011. In 2021

climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...

was added to the name.

Responsibilities

A publication in the ''

Official Gazette of the Republic of Turkey ''Official Gazette of the Republic of Türkiye'' () is the national and only official journal of Turkey that publishes the new legislation and other official announcements. It is referred to as ''Resmî Gazete'' in short. It has been published ...

'' on 3 April 2012 reduced the

fire safety Fire safety is the set of practices intended to reduce destruction caused by fire. Fire safety measures include those that are intended to prevent wikt:ignition, the ignition of an uncontrolled fire and those that are used to limit the spread a ...

inspection rights of municipal

fire brigade A fire department (North American English) or fire brigade (Commonwealth English), also known as a fire company, fire authority, fire district, fire and rescue, or fire service in some areas, is an organization that provides fire prevention and ...

s, transferring all matters requiring interpretation or clarification to the Turkish Ministry of Environment. The ministry is responsible for combating

environmental issues in Turkey Turkey hosts more than three thousand endemic plant species, has high diversity of other taxa, and is mostly covered by three of the world's thirty-five biodiversity hotspots. Although some environmental pressures have been decoupled from econom ...

. A National Environment Agency was established in 2020 but by 2022 had not become operational. According to the ministry the 2018 building standards amnesty raised 24 billion lira (4.2 billion USD), however as of 2023 it is not yet known what proportion of the buildings that collapsed in the 2023 quake had benefitted from building standards amnesties. After the 2023 earthquake President Erdoğan decreed that the ministry would be the only decision maker for new housing projects in earthquake-hit areas.

Directorates

Directorate of Climate Change

Formed in 2021 the Directorate of Climate Change is responsible for

climate change in Turkey Droughts and heatwaves are the main hazards due to the climate of Turkey getting hotter. The temperature has risen by more than , with the hottest year so far being 2024, and there is more extreme weather. Current greenhouse gas emissions ar ...

. Despite the Energy Ministry being represented on the Climate Change and Air Management Coordination Board, in 2018 the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the primary Executive (government), executive arm of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with a number of European Commissioner, members of the Commission (directorial system, informall ...

criticised the lack of co-ordination between the

climate change policy The politics of climate change results from different perspectives on how to respond to climate change. Global warming is driven largely by the emissions of greenhouse gases due to human economic activity, especially the burning of fossil fuel ...

and

energy policy of Turkey Energy consumption per person in Turkey is similar to the world average, and over 85 per cent is from fossil fuels. From 1990 to 2017 annual primary energy supply tripled, but then remained constant to 2019. In 2019, Turkey's primary energy ...

. the chief climate change negotiator is Fatma Varank, a Deputy Minister of Environment, who has a background in housing.

References

{{authority control Environment, Urbanisation and Climate Change

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

History

Responsibilities

Directorates

Directorate of Climate Change

See also

References