Green Economy in Europe (part 8)

Greece

Green growth and development occupied pride of place in the Papandreou government’s Stability and Growth Programme, submitted to Brussels in January 2010. The green economy agenda was the first among the main policies aimed at enhancing economic growth and employment. The Programme reiterated the commitment to green growth and development as a »major priority for the country«, given the need to address the challenges of climate change and the country’s unexplored potential in renewable energy development (Ministry of Finance, Hellenic Stability and Growth Programme 2010: 40).

The green agenda was a horizontal strategy that cut across different sectors. The country’s green growth and sustainable development policy strategy seeked to change the energy mix by 2020, strengthen trade openness and upgrade the quality of products and services in a number of traditional and modern sectors, such as transportation, telecoms, port facilities, tourism and land development, culture, the agro-food industry, ICT and biotechnology (Ministry of Finance, Hellenic Stability and Growth Programme 2010: 40).

The effective implementation of the green strategy required important public investments in support activities, including education, research, innovative entrepreneurship, management of natural resources and public health. In addition to the national public investment budget, the green growth and development strategy was to be financed from EU structural funds (the National Support Reference Framework, 2007-13) and public–private partnerships.

The National Support Reference Framework (NSRF) was the key financial vehicle for supporting green development objectives; its importance was even greater given the government’s fiscal squeeze. The NSRF was scheduled to amount to 26.2 billion Euro (that is, corresponding to a little over 10 per cent of GDP) of co-financed public expenditure over the programme period 2007–13. However, a poor track record in the past suggested that actual absorption rates might end up being lower.

The government had committed itself to bringing to Parliament a new investment law on green development to provide further incentives for green growth and development activities, supporting energy-saving investments and greenfield investment in RSE, including the effective utilisation of water resources, modern waste management techniques and urban regeneration projects (ibid: 42). The government programme emphasised productive restructuring in sectors such as the agro-food industry, innovative start-ups, cluster development, ICT use and the promotion of exports. Given the expected recession, there was a strong emphasis on creating and retaining jobs, especially in areas with high unemployment.

A study commissioned by the Greek Confederation of Labour foresaw a possibility of 100,000 new jobs created by the green development strategy. These would mainly be jobs for skilled workers, if necessary, retrained before entering the job market. The estimate might have been on the optimistic side, but it indicated the potential of a green strategy. The promotion of sectors such as tourism and culture was also part of the green development strategy, through concerted policies and investment incentives for high-quality services, the diffusion of information and communication technologies, especially among small and medium-sized enterprises, modern transportation and communication infrastructure, port development and theme parks.

http://library.fes.de/pdf-files/id/ipa/07097.pdf

Cyprus

The Human Resource Development Authority of Cyprus (HRDA) has conducted a study entitled Identification of green skill needs in the Cyprus economy 2010-2013.

The study (available in Greek only) specifies the green economy of Cyprus, provides employment needs forecasts for sectors of economic activity and occupations of the green economy and identifies green skill needs for the period 2010-2013.

The results of the study confirm that the transition to the green economy will strongly affect sectors of economic activity and occupations, thus influencing the knowledge, skills and attitudes of the human resources. Consequently, to tackle the upcoming challenges and compete in a new economic environment, the enterprises need human resources that have the necessary green skills and competences.

In the study, forecasts are provided on employment, expansion, replacement and total demand in green sectors of economic activity and occupations for the period 2010-2013. Furthermore, green skills for both existing and new green occupations are identified.

The HRDA, in close cooperation with the Ministry of Labour and Social Insurance, has put forward a Special scheme for promoting green skills in the Cyprus economy, which includes a variety of targeted measures that are directed towards enterprises, employees and the unemployed in 3 interlinked action pillars:

- Promotion of green skills for the unemployed

- Promotion of green skills for enterprises and employees

- Enhancement of infrastructures and systems for the promotion of green skills

The HRDA has declared the year 2011 as the Year of Green Skills with the aim to effectively promote and publicise the importance of the acquisition of green skills.

http://www.cedefop.europa.eu/EN/articles/17531.aspx

Malta

A 10-year plan for Malta to address its environmental issues and establish a green economy was launched last September by Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi and Environment Parliamentary Secretary Mario de Marco.

The draft National Environmental Policy spans practically every eco issue, ranging from climate change to noise pollution. It also talks about job creation and environmental taxation.

The government aims to double the number of green jobs (to 10,000) by 2015, when it will also ensure that half of all public procurement adheres to the EU’s Green Public Procurement criteria.

The plans include halting the loss of biodiversity and preparing the country for climate change and other environmental risks. The policy deals with conservation of resources such as stone, fresh water and soil, as well as the importance of improving the physical appearance of towns and villages through, for example, the creation of more open spaces and pedestrian zones.

The policy also puts into perspective the government’s plans for eco-Gozo, where most of the plans will be fast-tracked.

Many of the roughly 200 proposals are already being implemented but the document is intended to provide a holistic account of the government’s direction when it comes to the environment.

In a four-page supplement, The Times summarised the 100-page document, which can be found on www.opm.gov.mt/ambjent.

http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20110906/local/PM-launches-green-dream.383459

Turkey

Turkey needs alternative finance models to integrate into the green economy while decreasing carbon emission and implementing international requirements, said the head of the Turkish Industry and Business Association, or TÜSİAD, during a meeting in Istanbul last year.

“In order to increase our global competitiveness, Turkey should start working toward to a greener economy,” said Ümit Boyner, talking at a conference on finance for green economy organized by Regional Environmental Center.

“Turkey’s competitiveness depends on the possible finance models enabling further investments in low carbon economy,” said Boyner, noting that the association target was to contribute to forming such an economic model.

Turkey’s fast economic growth will increase the dependency on energy sources, she said. “We will have to make some decisions considering Turkey’s energy supply security.” Boyner said more national resources might be used for green energy. “Since Turkey depends on energy imports; it is not so easy to achieve targets right away.” “In order to meet the rising energy demand of the country, we need to invest nearly $200 billion in next 10 years,” said Boyner, adding that Turkey moves into a new term that requires less carbon emission energy sources and economic growth at the same time.

Commenting on the Kyoto Protocol, Boyner said it was late for Turkey to sign the agreement in 2009. “We could have benefited from the finance models implemented for India and China.”

“Turkey needs to increase its financial sources allocated for the research and development facilities,” she said, adding that the public officials should make green economy one of the top priority while working on new policies.

She also said in order to create a sustainable green economy, nearly 85 percent of the investment in transition to low carbon business should come from the private sector. “Additional external finance models should also be provided for the use of private companies for such transition to low carbon economy,” she said.

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/default.aspx?pageid=438&n=turkey-needs-new-model-for-low-carbon-economy-2011-05-05

Images source: http://www.crossed-flag-pins.com

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Turkey

Turkey is a vast peninsula, linking Asia to Europe through the Sea of Marmara and the Straits of Istanbul and Çanakkale. Turkey neighbours on Bulgaria, Greece, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Armenia and Georgia, as well as the Black Sea, the Sea of Marmara and the Mediterranean Sea. The capital city is Ankara.

The country’s shores are laced with beaches, bays, coves, ports, islands and peninsulas. Turkey is blessed with majestic mountains and valleys, lakes, rivers, waterfalls and grottoes. At the same time, it is also rich in hot springs, as well as healing waters and muds. Due to its diverse geography, one can experience four different climates in any one day.

Turkey is, above anything else, a huge open-air museum, a repository of all the civilizations nurtured by the soils of Anatolia. The huge amount of historical and archaeological wealth seems more appropriate for an entire continent than a single country. Turkey has 10 properties Inscribed In the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Environmental challenges in Turkey

Turkey's most pressing needs are for water treatment plants, wastewater treatment facilities, solid waste management, and the conservation of biodiversity. In the early 2000s, prospective membership in the European Union spurred the updating of some environmental legislation.

• Among Turkey's principal environmental problems is air pollution in cities. This has accelerated since rapid economic growth began in the mid-1990s. The problem is acute in Istanbul, Ankara, Erzurum and Bursa, where the combustion of heating fuels increases particulate density in winter. Especially in Istanbul, increased car ownership and the slow development of public transportation cause frequent urban smog conditions. In the last years, significant reductions have been achieved in Istanbul and Ankara. Industrial air pollution comes mainly from power plants and the metallurgy, cement, sugar, and fertilizer industries, a large percentage of which lack filtration equipment.
• The nation's rivers are polluted with industrial chemicals. A large part of the population has access to safe drinking water. The potential for spills from the 5,000 oil- and gas-carrying ships that pass through the Bosporus annually is a challenge. The release of pollutants by neighboring countries has critically contaminated the Black Sea, and multinational cooperation has not adequately addressed the problem.
• Soil erosion affects both coastal and internal areas. Land degradation is caused by inappropriate use of agricultural land, overgrazing, over-fertilization, and deforestation. Serious soil erosion has occurred in 69% of Turkey’s land surface.
• The discovery of a number of chemical waste sites in 2006 has highlighted weakness in environmental law and oversight.
• In 2001, 15 of Turkey's mammal species and 14 of its bird species were endangered. About 1,600 types of plants were threatened with extinction. Endangered species include the Anatolian leopard, Mediterranean monk seal, bald ibis, slender-billed curlew, Atlantic sturgeon, and hawksbill and green sea turtles.
• As a result of climate change, Turkey may experience increased temperatures including heat waves, increases in forest fires, decline in agricultural productivity, loss of surface water, and a loss of biodiversity. While an overall decrease in precipitation is expected, the intensity of rain when it does occur can cause flooding.

 

Citizens’ community involvement

Despite its growth in the recent decades, Turkish citizens remain rather disconnected from the civil society movement. Citizen participation is characterised by a narrow and deep trend where different social groups such as young people, women and ethnic minorities are under-represented.

Only 4.5% and 5.3% of the population are members of social and political CSOs respectively, while only 2.5% and 4.2% provide volunteer support to social or political organisations. Donations to CSOs are also rather low in Turkey. But despite the narrow citizen participation in Turkey, those that do participate in civil society activities do so rather deeply and intensely. A significant percentage of citizens who are members or volunteers of one CSO are members of or volunteers in at least one other.

In terms of the extent of civic participation, volunteering appears to attract the smallest part of the population. Furthermore, individual activism appears to be the most widespread form of civic engagement.

The extent of civic engagement seems to have improved over the years. Numbers of association members have gone up from 4,326,248 in 2005 to 6,811,147 in 2008, showing a 63.5% increase. However, a large majority (87%) of CSOs find citizen participation levels insufficient and place the lack of participation second among their most pressing problems, approving the need for increased capacity and support in this area.

Many stakeholders support the notion that the environmental CSO movement in Turkey is quite strong and in many ways has contributed to the development of the sector overall. They do also tend to be more organized (in terms of networks and platforms at the national and regional level) and have perhaps been one of the first CSO groups to engage in advocacy activities and legislative reforms. However, broad-based support and / or public visibility of such environmental initiatives are lacking.

Government environmental policies

According to OECD there are about 8 environmental taxes in Turkey, among which 3 regard fuel and vehicles, 1 regards air pollution, 2 regard water, while the remaining 2 refer to noise and nature protection. There are also 4 environmentally motivated subsidies with the purpose of: waste minimization, environmental protection, promoting the use of lead-free gasoline and promoting investments in treatment facilities.

Municipalities are authorized to collect an Environmental Tax as a contribution towards the financing of certain services such as garbage collection. This tax is levied at scheduled fixed amounts that vary according to the location of the house or office. This tax is paid through water bill of the property by the person who lives or occupies that house or office.

Other sector-specific policies and laws:

• The Turkish Industrial Strategy explicitly states that one of the key elements of competitiveness will be utilization of environment-friendly technologies in the close future. Besides, increasing share of renewables in energy sector is another priority to ensure energy supply security.
• The SME Strategy and Action Plan states that the public opinion has become more sensitive regarding the prevention of environmental pollution and protection of natural resources all around the world, leading to the preference of enterprises producing and products produced without harming the environment, and in this direction, SMEs have to integrate an operational culture based on environment friendly production in order to preserve their competitiveness.
• Under the provisions of Energy Efficiency Law, the Ministry of Industry and Trade has enforced the regulation on "Eco Design of Energy Related Products".
• A Draft "Energy Efficiency Strategy Paper 2010-2023"is also under preparation.
• The Law on Utilization of Renewable Energy Resources for the Purpose of Generating Electrical Energy is one of the important laws concerning energy resources.
• Energy Efficiency Law was published for the purpose of increasing efficiency in the use of energy and energy resources in order to efficiently use energy, prevent extravagance, alleviate the burden of energy costs on the economy and protect the environment.
• Under the “Hand-in-Hand ENVER (Energy Efficiency) Movement”, a step of National Energy Efficiency Movement, energy saving lamps have been distributed and awareness raising activities have been performed at primary schools.

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)

The private sector is generally uninterested in civil society actors. Major companies show limited concern about the social and environmental impacts of their operations and CSR activities, and only a very limited range of CSOs benefit from CSR activities.

However, companies are taking a more active role in supporting CSOs. Yet concerns remain about the lack of strategies and mechanisms. CSO partners and projects are selected and supported on an ad-hoc basis, generally with the advice of public relations/corporate communications consultants, commonly funded from the companies’ PR or marketing budgets. Decisions are rarely made according to any set guidelines and the practice is often treated as a ‘sponsorship’ rather than a ‘grant’. As such, corporate funds are accessible only for small and selective groups of CSOs. The unfavourable fiscal framework for donations and grant giving appears as another factor affecting CSR and corporate philanthropy negatively.

There are also firms and CSOs in Turkey which integrate CSR initiatives into their daily operations and fulfill CSR’s notion in line with globally accepted principles. As best practices are communicated at different platforms, they will inspire and act as role models for further business and civil sector partnerships, which will be beneficial for both parties.

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Sources and further reading:

http://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/Asia-and-Oceania/Turkey-ENVIRONMENT.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_issues_in_Turkey
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/3432.htm
http://climatecalendar.ca/country/turkey
http://www.civicus.org/images/stories/csi/csi_phase2/analytical%20country%20report%20for%20turkey.pdf 
http://www.eea.europa.eu/themes/economy/resource-efficiency/turkey-2014-resource-efficiency-policies
http://www2.oecd.org/ecoinst/queries/index.htm

http://www.allaboutturkey.com/tax.htm
http://www.goturkey.com/#

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