Türkiye
Overall NDC Equity Score
Average
Emissions Reductions
Critically Deficient
The NDC doesn’t include ambitious emissions reduction goals.
Gender Justice
Aspiring
The NDC makes strong commitments to gender mainstreaming but falls short on long-term women’s empowerment efforts.
Youth Inclusion
Exemplary
The NDC establishes youth inclusion in NDC development as a key priority, and provides indicators on youth empowerment and vulnerabilities to climate change.
Summary
Türkiye is classified as a developing country under the UNFCCC and is also among the top 20 global greenhouse gas emitters. In terms of location, it has a strategic position between Europe, Asia, and the Mediterranean, and is highly exposed to climate change impacts such as droughts, heatwaves, and water scarcity.
The country has set a net-zero emissions target for 2053 and has recently strengthened its climate governance through new institutional and legal frameworks. Its updated NDC is generally seen as moderately ambitious, as it targets reductions against a projected baseline instead of setting an absolute emissions cap, reflecting its development needs and economic growth priorities.
Beyond its NDC, Türkiye has introduced several notable climate-related policies, including the Climate Law, Long-Term Climate Strategy, National Energy Plan, and circular economy strategy. Sectoral roadmaps in energy, transport, industry, and agriculture also support its broader transition toward a low-carbon economy.
On gender mainstreaming. Even though Türkiye’s NDC bases gender equality on equality between men and women, it still builds a framework that supports putting women in leadership roles within eco-friendly projects. The strategic plans linked in the NDC back this up with concrete steps, support programs, and targets to increase the number of women entrepreneurs, employees, and managers in these fields.
On youth inclusion. Youth participation in Türkiye’s climate policy is mainly reflected in consultation processes within the NDC, where young people provide input. Outside the NDC, engagement happens through initiatives like the Youth Climate Envoys and climate focused NGOs. Youth involvement is increasing, but it is still mostly based on specific activities and consultations rather than fully established structures. COP31 is also expected to bring more space for youth participation in climate-related discussions.
Highlights
- Türkiye’s Climate Law No. 7552, which entered into force in 2025, has given climate action a stronger legal basis and clarified the roles and responsibilities of institutions.
- The NDC takes vulnerable groups such as women, children, and low-income communities into account and integrates them into climate policy through a “just transition” approach.
- During the preparation phase, more than 200 meetings were held with over 6,000 representatives from the public sector, private sector, academia, and civil society, making the process quite inclusive.
- Low-carbon transition plans have been developed for key sectors such as energy, industry, transport, buildings, and agriculture, aligned with the 2053 net-zero target.
- Through platforms like the “Youth Climate Ambassadors,” young people were included in the process, and their input was reflected in the NDC.
Lowlights
- Planned policy implementations are largely dependent on access to international finance, technology transfer, and capacity-building support, which also makes the overall implementation planning less clearly defined.
- The use of a BAU (Business-as-Usual) approach, which is also criticized in academic literature, may be seen as a limitation of the NDC. It is considered less aligned with the Paris Agreement’s focus on absolute emission reductions, as it mainly targets slowing emissions growth rather than achieving direct reductions. For this reason, the approach could be improved or further developed to better support stronger climate mitigation goals.
- The document clearly states that there are no internationally recognized “indigenous peoples” within Türkiye’s borders, which may not fully align with some international social justice approaches.
Key Recommendations
Under its NDC, Türkiye commits to capping its 2035 emissions at 643 Mt CO₂ eq., representing a 466 Mt reduction that highlights a clear commitment structured around a business-as-usual (BAU) baseline. Rather than using direct, isolated social sections, the NDC integrates gender equality and youth strategies through interspersed explanations throughout the document.
Even though gender equality is based on fundamental male-female parity, the NDC supports placing women in leadership roles within eco-friendly projects. Compared to previous versions, these groups are now much more targeted, offering increased project opportunities and goal-oriented solutions through linked national action plans.
For Gender Mainstreaming
- Introduce a Gender Equality Plan (GEP) requirement in the Green Taxonomy so that access to climate finance is linked to gender equality commitments in a more concrete way.
- Apply mandatory gender-disaggregated data collection (GBA+) across all sectors to better understand how climate policies affect different groups of people.
- Allocate a fixed share of ETS revenues to support women-led low-carbon investments and ensure a gender-responsive just transition.
- Strengthen women’s participation in local climate governance by including gender quotas and ensuring representation in Provincial Climate Change Coordination Boards.
- Provide simplified and faster funding mechanisms for NGOs working on gender and climate justice to make implementation more effective on the ground.
For Youth Inclusion
- Young people should be more involved in national and local climate decision-making, including advisory roles in policy design and monitoring.
- Data on young people should be collected more systematically across climate policies to better understand their inclusion and impacts.
- A dedicated share of climate-related funding, including ETS revenues where relevant, should be directed to youth-led climate projects and initiatives.
- Youth representation should be increased in local climate governance structures such as Provincial Climate Change Coordination Boards and Local Climate Action Plans.
- Funding mechanisms for youth-led NGOs and grassroots climate initiatives should be made more accessible and simpler to use.
- Institutional support for youth engagement platforms should be expanded, and their input should be more directly reflected in policy outcomes.