As Turkey Circular Economy Platform, we held the Round Table Meeting titled "The Role of Financial Institutions in the Transition to Circular Economy" with Turkey's leading financial institutions on March 20, 2024, in cooperation with EBRD, to discuss how we can increase circular economy investments in Turkey. The aim of the event, in which we brought together 32 participants consisting of senior executives of the business world, was to increase circular economy investments in Turkey and to create a bridge between financial institutions and Turkey Circular Economy Platform (TDEP) members.

The Most Important Problem in the Transition to a Circular Economy: Access to Finance!

The meeting, held with the high-level participation of the finance sector, started with the opening speeches of SKD Turkey Chairman of the Board of Directors Ebru Dildar Edin and EBRD Turkey Deputy Country President Şule Topçu Kılıç.

In the opening speeches of the Round Table Meeting, EBRD Turkey Vice President Şule Topçu Kılıç mentioned that TCEP, established in cooperation with EBRD & BCSD Turkey, played a leading role in the transition to a circular economy of businesses in Turkey, and emphasized that the most important problem of businesses today is access to finance in the transition to a circular economy. He stated they want to address the opportunities and challenges together to increase circular economy investments in this roundtable meeting consisting of two sessions.

BCSD Turkey Chairman of the Board of Directors Ebru Dildar Edin said, “We must achieve growth based on circular economy principles. According to the 2024 Circular Gap Report; More than half a billion tons of resources have been consumed in the world in the last six years. This amount almost corresponds to the amount of material consumed in the entire 20th century. However, the amount of raw materials used in the food, construction and manufacturing industries can be reduced by one-third with a circular economy. Within the scope of the DEEP project, in which BCSD Turkey is a consortium partner and Turkey's Circular Economy Action Plan was prepared, Turkey's circularity rate was calculated as 4.54%. "Turkey also needs to accelerate its transition to a circular economy to increase its global competitiveness and achieve sustainable development goals." said.

Turkey Circular Economy Platform is carried out in cooperation with SKD Turkey and EBRD, with funding support from Japan.