Turkey unveils climate-funding action plan ahead of Cop31

• Triple-pronged green-finance strategy
• Targets infrastructure, skills, products
• Success ‘depends on data credibility’

Turkey has announced a plan to channel more finance into climate-related projects as it prepares to host Cop31 later this year.

The strategy should make it easier for banks and investors to fund green projects by improving areas such as climate data and reporting, market expertise and financial products.

The National Green Finance Strategy and Action Plan, launched by Turkish treasury and finance minister Mehmet Şimşek, is built around three main pillars.

First, Turkey aims to put the basic infrastructure in place for green finance to function.

This includes tightening sustainability reporting rules, collecting and publishing better climate-related data, and setting common standards so information is clearer and compatible across financial markets.

Second, the strategy aims to strengthen institutions and build green finance expertise.

This will require training programmes for staff across state agencies, regulators and the private sector. Knowledge sharing and closer co-operation between government, academia and financial companies will also be crucial.

Third, Turkey aims to expand the green finance market.

This is to be achieved through greater uptake of green loans, bonds and sustainability-linked financial instruments. It will also promote “green banking” practices, encourage institutional investors, and support the development of sustainable capital markets.

However, the strategy may falter if the data is weak, said Erinç Yeldan, professor of economics at İstanbul’s Kadir Has University, whose work has focused on the economics of climate change.

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“The green financial system targets may look pretty on paper but if not based on realistic data your projections are not credible and one cannot create a green financial system on such data,” he said.

If data is not realistic or trustworthy, any strategy and targets lose credibility, Yeldan said, meaning financial instruments such as those for carbon emissions pricing cannot be set.

Turkey is hosting Cop31 from November 9 to 20 in Antalya.