Türkiye is not only preparing to host COP31. It is also preparing to demonstrate whether it can build a transition architecture that connects climate targets with the financial system, capital markets, banking, data infrastructure, and real-economy investments.
For this reason, the Presidential Circular on the National Green Finance Strategy and Action Plan, published in the Official Gazette on 4 July 2026, should not be read merely as a technical public policy document. It should be seen as an important policy signal ahead of COP31, showing Türkiye’s intention to support its climate diplomacy with a stronger financial infrastructure. Through the circular, Türkiye announced the National Green Finance Strategy and Action Plan covering the 2026–2029 period, aiming to establish a comprehensive framework for green finance and support the country’s green transition.
COP31 creates an important diplomatic visibility opportunity for Türkiye. However, the significance of COP31 goes beyond hosting. The UNFCCC’s “Road to Antalya” process shows that the COP30 Presidency and the incoming COP31 Presidency will continue engaging with parties, observers, and negotiating groups throughout the year to prepare the ground for the Antalya outcomes. This indicates that the road to COP31 is shaped not only at the negotiation table, but also through countries’ domestic policy, finance, and implementation capacities.
Today, credibility in climate policy is no longer measured only by announcing targets. Net-zero commitments, NDCs, adaptation plans, energy transition strategies, and industrial transformation visions gain real implementation value only when they become financeable, measurable, and bankable. From this perspective, the most important message of the National Green Finance Strategy and Action Plan is clear: Türkiye is positioning the green transition not only as an environmental policy agenda, but also as an economic restructuring process that requires the transformation of the financial system.
The strategy document reflects this approach clearly. It prioritizes the development of an investment environment aligned with Türkiye’s 2053 net-zero emissions target, the strengthening of the green finance ecosystem, and more effective access to international climate finance resources. It also aims to increase the resilience of financial markets against risks that may emerge during the green transition and to accelerate investment flows toward green and sustainable projects.
Therefore, what makes this document important in the COP31 context is not only that it brings green finance onto the policy agenda. Its real significance lies in the fact that it creates a bridge between climate policy and financial decision-making mechanisms. The most critical question of the green transition is no longer only “what needs to be done?” but rather: who will finance it, according to which criteria, with what data, and through which market mechanisms will it be scaled?
The structure of the Action Plan seeks to respond to this question. It is built around three main objectives: establishing the infrastructure for a transparent and measurable green finance ecosystem, strengthening institutional capacity and human resources, and developing market mechanisms for the growth of green finance. In total, the plan includes 11 targets and 45 actions.
These three areas provide a strategic framework for COP31. The first pillar, transparency and measurability, forms the foundation of investor confidence. In this regard, the completion of the Türkiye Green Taxonomy and the publication of the Türkiye Green Taxonomy Regulation are particularly critical. Without a taxonomy, it is difficult to clearly define which investments are genuinely green, which activities qualify as transition investments, and which projects can access green finance instruments. The Action Plan foresees the completion of Türkiye Green Taxonomy work and the publication of the relevant regulation in 2026.
The second pillar relates to reporting, verification, and assurance infrastructure. For green finance to function effectively, targets alone are not enough; reliable data and auditable performance indicators are also required. In this context, the expansion of Türkiye Sustainability Reporting Standards, the strengthening of sustainability assurance standards, the authorization of assurance providers, and the integration of financed emissions into banks’ risk management processes stand out as important actions. This area can strengthen Türkiye’s “measurable transition” narrative ahead of COP31.
The third pillar is market mechanisms. One of the most notable elements here is the action related to the implementation of Türkiye’s Emissions Trading System. The Action Plan aims to complete the legislative infrastructure for the ETS and put it into practice in 2026. This could become an important turning point for green finance. Carbon pricing, taxonomy, green loans, green bonds, and sustainable investment products create limited impact when they operate in isolation. Their real value emerges when they become part of a mutually reinforcing financial transition architecture.
From a COP31 perspective, this strategy gives Türkiye an important narrative opportunity. In Antalya, Türkiye can position itself not only as a country with climate targets, but as a country working to integrate these targets into the functioning of its financial system. The Ministry of Treasury and Finance also stated that COP31 presents an important opportunity to make Türkiye’s climate action and sustainable finance vision more visible on the international stage, and that the objectives and targets of the National Green Finance Strategy and Action Plan will be communicated internationally during this process.
At this point, a strong link can also be established between the COP31 Action Agenda and the Green Finance Strategy. The incoming COP31 Presidency’s Action Agenda priorities, announced in Bonn, include electrification, zero waste, food security, resilient cities, and green industrialization. Türkiye also announced targets such as increasing the share of electricity in global final energy demand to 35% by 2035, halving global waste growth, and reducing energy consumption intensity in buildings by at least 25%.
Each of these targets requires financing. Electrification means investment in grids, renewable energy, batteries, energy storage, electric mobility, and industrial electrification. Zero waste requires circular economy systems, recycling, critical raw material management, product passports, and waste infrastructure. Resilient cities require investment in building transformation, energy efficiency, disaster resilience, transport, and infrastructure. Green industrialization requires significant capital for the technological, process, and energy transformation of carbon-intensive sectors.
Therefore, the implementation ambition of COP31 and the financial infrastructure ambition of the National Green Finance Strategy complement each other. One shows what the international climate agenda will focus on, while the other sets out the systemic steps Türkiye needs to take to finance these transformation areas.
However, an important distinction should be made. This circular and strategy document do not mean that the transformation has already been achieved. Rather, the document should be seen as a policy direction and an implementation infrastructure commitment. Its real impact will depend on how applicable the taxonomy will be, how effectively greenwashing will be prevented, whether banks will genuinely integrate climate risks into credit decisions, whether green products in capital markets will deepen, and whether the real economy will be able to develop bankable project pipelines.
For this reason, Türkiye’s green finance agenda ahead of COP31 will be tested in three main areas.
The first is the classification and credibility test. Will the Türkiye Green Taxonomy provide a clear, practical, and internationally aligned reference framework for financial markets and the real economy?
The second is the financial depth test. Will green bonds, green loans, sustainable finance instruments, insurance and guarantee mechanisms, publicly subsidized loans, and international climate finance tools be directed toward real projects?
The third is the real-economy implementation test. Will sectors such as industry, energy, transport, buildings, batteries, energy storage, and circular economy be able to prepare measurable, verifiable, and financeable investment cases?
This is where Türkiye’s strongest narrative on the road to COP31 can be built: becoming a country that creates a bridge between climate targets and bankable transition. This is not only a diplomatic position, but also a strategic necessity in terms of industrial competitiveness, access to finance, alignment with the EU Green Deal, CBAM impacts, carbon pricing, and integration into sustainable value chains.
In conclusion, the 4 July Circular and the National Green Finance Strategy add an important layer to Türkiye’s green transition story ahead of COP31. Türkiye’s COP31 message should not remain limited to “we support climate action.” A stronger and more credible message would be:
Türkiye is working to build an implementation platform that connects climate targets with the financial system, market mechanisms, data infrastructure, and real-economy investments.
At COP31, credibility will no longer be measured only by the ambition of targets, but by how those targets will be financed. For this reason, Türkiye’s green finance strategy is not merely a domestic policy document ahead of COP31; it is an opportunity to support Türkiye’s climate diplomacy with the language of implementation and investment.
