Environmental issues in Turkey

Turkey hosts more than three thousand endemic plant species, has high diversity of other taxa, and is mostly covered by three of the world's thirty-five biodiversity hotspots.

[1] Although some environmental pressures have been decoupled from economic growth, the environment still faces many threats, such as coal and diesel fuel emitting greenhouse gases and deadly fine particulate air pollution.

[3] The wildlife of Turkey is diverse, due to its wide variety of habitats and unique position between three continents and three seas.

[7] Air pollution is particularly significant in urban areas;[8] the problem is especially acute in Istanbul,[9] Ankara, Erzurum, and Bursa, 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.

[11] "Air pollution in urban centers, often caused by transport, and the use of small-scale burning of wood or coal, is linked to a range of health problems."

The first Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control permits are expected to be issued in 2024,[needs update] to use best available techniques but to use the least stringent emission levels (of those specified in EU 2017–1442).

[27] 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).

[33] A green deal action plan was written mainly by the Trade Ministry and published in 2021,[34] but according to the Health and Environment Alliance it does not set any tangible targets or deadlines.