Growth’s Hidden Costs
Türkiye stands at a pivotal moment. With ambitious national commitments—such as achieving net-zero emissions by 2053 and strengthening its sustainability agenda to maintain critical international trade relationships—the country faces the urgent challenge of integrating environmental sustainability into its economic and policy decisions. To meet this challenge, the country is incorporating a new asset: its natural capital. Historically, Türkiye has grappled with quantifying the economic value of its natural resources, managing tradeoffs among competing resource users, and prioritizing investments for efficient natural capital management. Now, with support from the World Bank, the country marks a notable pivot from the old orthodoxy of growth-at-any-cost to making sustainability more than a slogan by ensuring forests, rivers and air can be given economic value by policymakers.
Greener, Smarter, More Resilient
The Türkiye Green Growth Analytical and Advisory Program (GG-PASA), financed by the Global Program for Sustainability (GPS), has a clear vision: to generate actionable knowledge, inform policy dialogue, and scale up strategic engagement on green growth and climate change. The goal is for the country to measure and manage its natural resources, align its trade policies with EU standards, and create jobs in emerging sectors. The government wants to be able to show, with data and dashboards, that green growth is not just possible, but profitable.
The Pathway: Counting, Accounting, Reforming
The World Bank’s approach is methodical, helping Türkiye build Natural Capital Accounts (NCA)—statistical tools that track the value of water, energy, and air —and pilot ecosystem accounts in selected watersheds. These accounts are now being used to inform Türkiye’s 12th National Development Plan (2024-2028) and a new climate law (enacted July 2025). The new law addresses nature through its principles of social and environmental sustainability, which includes the protection and sustainable management of natural resources and ecosystems. It expands protected areas (both marine and terrestrial), combats land degradation and desertification and promotes carbon sinks through afforestation and soil conservation. The law also encourages the use of ecosystem-based and nature-based solutions in agriculture to balance conservation with sustainable resource use. Built with GPS support, the accounts now make it possible to measure sustainability in these areas. By counting nature, Türkiye will be better able to conserve and sustainably manage it.
Second, the program is tackling the circular economy (CE), a concept important to European regulators and, increasingly, Turkish ones. In October 2025, the President of Türkiye announced the new National Circular Economy Strategy and Action Plan 2025-2028. This strategy will contribute to the 2053 Net Zero Emissions target, reduce waste costs, reduce import dependency of raw materials, and increase international competitiveness. It also aims to create more than 100,000 new jobs.
World Bank analysis, funded by GPS, informed the development of the CE strategy and action plan, showing that the costs of implementing CE policies are moderate and could be outweighed by the benefits when all positive effects are considered. At the same time, CE policies have a significant impact on reducing CO2 emissions, an essential complement to climate policies for achieving the 2053 Net Zero Emissions target. From a trade perspective, the analysis found that the EU-Türkiye Customs Union is a key driver of the CE transition for both partners. On the one hand, Türkiye will need to ensure regulatory alignment with the EU’s CE policies to maintain preferential access to the EU internal market. On the other hand, the CE transition in Türkiye will help boost the EU’s CE transition, especially in the highly linked value chains of the textile and automotive sectors.
Positive Impact: Government, People, and Trade
For the government, the GPS program offers more than just technical assistance. It provides a roadmap for meeting net-zero commitments, a toolkit for drafting smarter laws, and a way to signal seriousness to global partners. For ordinary people, the benefits are clear: cleaner air, safer water, and new jobs in green industries. Rural communities, often left behind by urban-centric policies, stand to gain from investments in resilient landscapes and sustainable agriculture.
Trade is at the heart of the green transition in Türkiye, and the EU remains the country's largest export market. The GPS program supports the government and Turkish industry to align with EU standards and shows that the CE offers a significant strategic opportunity for Türkiye to strengthen its position in global markets and build resilience against economic shocks.
Sustaining the Gains
As the GPS program nears completion, its legacy will be sustained through strengthened institutional capacities, robust data systems, and policy frameworks that embed sustainability into Türkiye’s economic fabric. The program’s comprehensive approach—leveraging data, analytical insights, and stakeholder engagement—ensures that the benefits will endure, driving Türkiye’s green, circular, and resilient economy for years to come.
Türkiye’s partnership with GPS exemplifies how targeted analytical and advisory support can empower a nation to meet its sustainability goals, benefiting government, communities, and international partners alike, positioning Türkiye as a leader in green growth and sustainable trade in the region.
