CLIMATE CHANGE POLICY OF TURKEY: AN ANALYSIS OF REGULAR PROGRESS REPORTS

Abstract

When assessed from a global perspective; environmental problems, especially in the last five decades, have been a threat to almost all countries. International organisations and institutions struggle to develop effective solutions for arising issues. Climate change is also evaluated as one of the most crucial risks for the environment. European Commission regular progress reports hold a guiding role for the candidate countries and in light of that numerous policies of the relevant countries have aligned with the European Union (EU) acquis. The main purpose of the study is to analyze the climate change policy of Turkey within the context of regular progress reports in an effort to mend the gap fill the void in literature regarding climate change policy of Turkey. Therefore, 7 regular progress reports between the years 2010-2016, when climate change was considered as a title, will be scrutinised in terms of legislation, institutional structure and emission gas through content analysis method with the aim of having a functional assessment about the determinations and the expectations of the EU. The study reveals that although Turkey has made fundamental progress over the years regarding climate change, there are still some crucial issues that need to be reconsidered to have an effective climate change policy.