Free coal distributed to poor people by the Family and Social Policies Ministry of Turkey

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 ...

hosts more than three thousand endemic plant species, has high

diversity Diversity, diversify, or diverse may refer to: Business *Diversity (business), the inclusion of people of different identities (ethnicity, gender, age) in the workforce *Diversity marketing, marketing communication targeting diverse customers * ...

of other taxa, and is mostly covered by three of the world's thirty-five

biodiversity hotspot A biodiversity hotspot is a ecoregion, biogeographic region with significant levels of biodiversity that is threatened by human habitation. Norman Myers wrote about the concept in two articles in ''The Environmentalist'' in 1988 and 1990, after ...

s. Although some environmental pressures have been decoupled from

economic growth In economics, economic growth is an increase in the quantity and quality of the economic goods and Service (economics), services that a society Production (economics), produces. It can be measured as the increase in the inflation-adjusted Outp ...

, the environment still faces many threats, such as

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other Chemical element, elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal i ...

and

diesel fuel Diesel fuel, also called diesel oil, heavy oil (historically) or simply diesel, is any liquid fuel specifically designed for use in a diesel engine, a type of internal combustion engine in which fuel ignition takes place without a spark as a re ...

emitting greenhouse gases and deadly fine particulate

air pollution Air pollution is the presence of substances in the Atmosphere of Earth, air that are harmful to humans, other living beings or the environment. Pollutants can be Gas, gases like Ground-level ozone, ozone or nitrogen oxides or small particles li ...

. there is no fine particulate limit and

coal in Turkey Coal supplies a quarter of Energy in Turkey, Turkey's primary energy, and the country is one of the largest consumers in the world. The heavily Fossil fuel subsidies#Turkey, subsidised coal industry generates over a third of the Electricity sec ...

is subsidized. Some say the country is a pollution haven.

Issues

Conservation of biodiversity

The wildlife of Turkey is diverse, due to its wide variety of habitats and unique position between three continents and three seas. "Ill-considered development projects are threatening biodiversity, but a new

wildlife corridor A wildlife corridor, also known as a habitat corridor, or green corridor, is a designated area habitat (ecology), that connects wildlife populations that have been separated by human activities or structures, such as development, roads, or land ...

offers hope for further conservation progress." Turkish montane forests face major threats to their genetic diversity associated with over-exploitation, forest fragmentation, air pollution, and global climatic change. The

European Environment Agency The European Environment Agency (EEA) is the agency of the European Union (EU) which provides independent information on the environment. Definition The European Environment Agency (EEA) is the agency of the European Union (EU) which provides ...

has identified three biogeographic regions in Turkey, the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal sea, marginal Mediterranean sea (oceanography), mediterranean sea lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bound ...

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

and Anatolian regions, which should be protected under the

Berne Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats Bern (), or Berne (), ; ; ; . is the '' de facto'' capital of Switzerland, referred to as the " federal city".; ; ; . According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has governmental i ...

, to which Turkey is signatory. Forest in Turkey had a 2018

Forest Landscape Integrity Index The Forest Landscape Integrity Index (FLII) is an annual global index of forest condition measured by degree of anthropogenic modification. Created by a team of 47 scientists, the FLII, in its measurement of 300m pixels of forest across the globe ...

mean score of 6.39/10, ranking it 75th globally out of 172 countries.

Air pollution

Air pollution Air pollution is the presence of substances in the Atmosphere of Earth, air that are harmful to humans, other living beings or the environment. Pollutants can be Gas, gases like Ground-level ozone, ozone or nitrogen oxides or small particles li ...

is particularly significant in urban areas; the problem is especially acute in

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

Ankara Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and List of national capitals by area, the largest capital by area in the world. Located in the Central Anatolia Region, central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5,290,822 in its urban center ( ...

Erzurum Erzurum (; ) is a List of cities in Turkey, city in eastern Anatolia, Turkey. It is the largest city and capital of Erzurum Province and is 1,900 meters (6,233 feet) above sea level. Erzurum had a population of 367,250 in 2010. It is the site of an ...

, and

Bursa Bursa () is a city in northwestern Turkey and the administrative center of Bursa Province. The fourth-most populous city in Turkey and second-most populous in the Marmara Region, Bursa is one of the industrial centers of the country. Most of ...

, where the combustion of heating fuels increases particulate density in winter. Almost all the urban population is exposed to particulate matter emissions higher than the EU and World Health Organization limits. Especially in Istanbul, increased car ownership causes frequent urban smog conditions. "Air pollution in urban centers, often caused by transport, and the use of small-scale burning of wood or

, is linked to a range of health problems." "PM10 levels are 36.7 micrograms per cubic meter, much higher than the OECD average of 20.9 micrograms per cubic meter, and the annual guideline limit of 20 micrograms per cubic meter set by the World Health Organization." Although there is some monitoring of air pollution compared with other European countries, many air pollution indicators are not available. Regulations in Turkey do not contain any restrictions on the pollutant PM 2.5, which causes lung diseases. Greenpeace Mediterranean claim that the Afşin- Elbistan coal-fired plant is the power plant with the highest health risk in Europe, followed by the Soma coal-fired power plant, also in Turkey.

Waste disposal

many municipalities use substandard dumps to dispose of waste.

Noise

Environmental noise data is not reported.

Climate change

Summer temperatures have increased and are expected to continue to increase due to climate change.

Coal in Turkey Coal supplies a quarter of Energy in Turkey, Turkey's primary energy, and the country is one of the largest consumers in the world. The heavily Fossil fuel subsidies#Turkey, subsidised coal industry generates over a third of the Electricity sec ...

emits a third of the country's greenhouse gas.

Water

Pollution

Organic pollution of streams is a problem. There is a potential for spills from the 5,000 oil- and gas-carrying ships that pass through the

Bosporus The Bosporus or Bosphorus Strait ( ; , colloquially ) is a natural strait and an internationally significant waterway located in Istanbul, Turkey. The Bosporus connects the Black Sea to the Sea of Marmara and forms one of the continental bo ...

annually.

Drought

Turkey is at risk of water shortages. Almost three quarters of water that is consumed is used for

irrigation Irrigation (also referred to as watering of plants) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow crops, landscape plants, and lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,000 years and has bee ...

agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

Land degradation

Land degradation Land degradation is a process where land becomes less healthy and productive due to a combination of Human impact on the environment, human activities or natural conditions. The causes for land degradation are numerous and complex. Human activitie ...

is a critical agricultural problem, caused by inappropriate use of agricultural land,

overgrazing Overgrazing occurs when plants are exposed to intensive grazing for extended periods of time, or without sufficient recovery periods. It can be caused by either livestock in poorly managed agricultural applications, game reserves, or nature ...

, or over-fertilization,. Serious soil erosion has occurred in 69% of Turkey's land surface. A national soil information system is being developed as presently 'it is difficult to assess the levels of

land degradation Land degradation is a process where land becomes less healthy and productive due to a combination of Human impact on the environment, human activities or natural conditions. The causes for land degradation are numerous and complex. Human activitie ...

desertification Desertification is a type of gradual land degradation of Soil fertility, fertile land into arid desert due to a combination of natural processes and human activities. The immediate cause of desertification is the loss of most vegetation. This i ...

soil contamination Soil contamination, soil pollution, or land pollution as a part of land degradation is caused by the presence of xenobiotic (human-made) chemicals or other alteration in the natural soil environment. It is typically caused by industrial activit ...

Green space in cities

Former military land in cities may be rezoned for housing.

Laws and regulations

The Ministry of Environment, Urbanisation and Climate Change is responsible. The first Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control permits are expected to be issued in 2024, to use best available techniques but to use the least stringent emission levels (of those specified in EU 2017–1442). In 2021 ships were banned from using open-loop scrubbers in national waters. The European Pollutant Release and Transfer Register (E-PRTR) legislation was adopted in 2021 to be phased in. There is a pollutant release and transfer register website but as of September 2024 no years are publicly searchable, because it is not yet technically complete (see FAQ). In 2024 a draft similar to the EU green taxonomy was published.

Politics

Environmental issues are becoming more politically sensitive. Changes in the law on environmental impact assessments are being considered which will permit mining investments without waiting for environmental impact assessments. The EU has asked for "a stronger political commitment". In 2019 Turkey was one of five countries which voted against the proposed UN Global Pact for the Environment. A green deal action plan was written mainly by the Trade Ministry and published in 2021, but according to the Health and Environment Alliance it does not set any tangible targets or deadlines.

Economics

Ecotax An environmental tax, ecotax (short for ecological taxation), or green tax is a tax levied on activities which are considered to be harmful to the environment and is intended to promote environmentally friendly alternatives via economic incentive ...

es on

gasoline Gasoline ( North American English) or petrol ( Commonwealth English) is a petrochemical product characterized as a transparent, yellowish, and flammable liquid normally used as a fuel for spark-ignited internal combustion engines. When for ...

and vehicles cover the

social cost of carbon The social cost of carbon (SCC) is an estimate, typically expressed in dollars, of the economic damages associated with emitting one additional ton of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. By translating the effects of climate change into monetary t ...

from the road transport sector, however being nationwide they are not designed to cover the

negative externality In economics, an externality is an indirect cost (external cost) or indirect benefit (external benefit) to an uninvolved third party that arises as an effect of another party's (or parties') activity. Externalities can be considered as unpriced ...

of health costs due to local air pollution in cities.

Subsidies

Turkey continues to provide substantial environmentally harmful subsidies, such as subsidies for poor families to use coal for heating.

Restrictions on public access to information

Turkey is not a party to the

Aarhus Convention The UNECE Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters, usually known as the Aarhus Convention, was signed on 25 June 1998 in the Danish city of Aarhus. It entered into ...

, and the EU and

OECD The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD; , OCDE) is an international organization, intergovernmental organization with 38 member countries, founded in 1961 to stimulate economic progress and international trade, wor ...

say the government should remove restrictions on access to environmental information: researchers say the government is punishing them for publishing information about pollution.

External links

Türkiye
at

Biodiversity in TurkeyConvention on Biological Diversity "Çevre Kuruluşları Dayanışma Derneği" environmental organizationEkosfer environmental organizationSefia environmental organization

Sources

* * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Environmental Issues In Turkey Issues Environmentalism in Turkey