Reasons to be Hopeful about Climate Change

Incidents across the world show a deteriorating profile for the planet, such as rising sea levels, extreme cold weather, drought, wildfires, heavy rains, floods, storms, and coastal destruction. Climate change due to global warming disrupts the balance of the planet.

Human beings, on the other hand, increasingly listen to science and take action to stop climate change. For example,

• 83 percent of Turkey’s population are concerned about climate change,
• US companies emphasize that more should be done to deal with global warming,
• People globally demand that all take action and have a real impact on climate change.

In short, the voice of communities is raising across the globe.

Generation Z is especially concerned about climate change and ready to take action. Climate activism, which started with the pioneering actions of Greta Thunberg, rapidly disseminated across the world. This increasing interest and justifiable concern of Generation Z continues to be a social pressure factor on decision-makers.

Promising Developments for Climate Change in the World

• UN’s climate policy negotiations started to recognize young people as official stakeholders.
• Multiple economic benefits of “clean energy” are being discussed all over the world. The discussions revolve around how the transition to green energy will create new job opportunities across the world. As a matter of fact, the ‘Green New Deal’ movement, which started in the US and worked on by European Union, focuses exactly on the economic benefits of transition to green energy.
• The concept of ‘Green city’ is increasingly popular nowadays and local governments across the world work on how to build more sustainable cities.
• Costs of renewable energy continue to decrease each day.

Benefits of Clean Energy Goes Beyond Stopping Climate Change

• The transition to green energy is expected to eliminate approximately 8 million early deaths every year.
• According to a study conducting in 2022, the transition to renewable energy resources is estimated to save trillions of dollars in costs in the global economy.
• It is known that prevented climate change will reduce dependency on the petrostates which use fossil fuel profits for corruption and war. With the transition to green energy, it is anticipated that the global powers of the ‘petrostates’ which are generally governed through autocracy will be reduced. And this is great news for the dissemination of democracy across the globe!

Precautions for Climate Change are Becoming Increasingly Egalitarian and Fair

The clean energy community is talking about how the countries which contribute the most in the climate crisis should take more responsibility to prevent climate crisis. The argument is that the countries with the largest carbon footprints, such as US and China, should invest in green energy in other developing countries. This is a critical matter. Arguing that developed countries have a ‘responsibility’ for developing countries is a movement that could speed up the transition to green energy.

A more sustainable planet is anticipated to provide benefits not only to rich people who live in prosperity but also to historically marginalized communities with lower income levels.

And the Article 16 of United Nations’ ‘Sustainable Development Goals’ points exactly to this principle. This goal is: ‘‘Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable, and inclusive institutions at all levels.’’

In short, a ‘green’ world and a ‘fair’ world are considered together. Justice, on the other hand, is considered indispensable for sustainable development. The argument that says sustainable development is not possible without justice passes through thinking of ‘green transition’ as a subject matter with multiple layers. The concept of green transition, therefore, includes many subject matters such as democracy, equality, and equitable access to services.

Costs of Renewable Energy and Energy Storage are Rapidly Decreasing

• The cheapest energy source in 2020 was “Renewable Energy”.
• And energy storage costs decreased more than 90 percent in the last 10 years.​
• Lower costs will make renewable energy resources usable for masses.

Generation Z Raises Our Hopes for the Future

The youth’s climate movement stands firm. Greta Thunberg, the climate activist, drew the world’s attention to this subject. She started to stage sit-ins in front of the parliament on Fridays instead of going to school. This action of Greta turned into a global sensation. The ‘Fridays for Future’ movement made a tremendous impact across the world. Young climate activists continue to protest in various ways in Turkey as well to make their voices heard. There are many inspiring climate leaders in the world who work for climate justice and put up a fight for their future.

Local Governments are Leading in the Green Transition

Social dialog speeds up as well as studies aiming for a ‘fairer and greener’ world increase. This goal is considered at every level, from international institutions to local governments.

​Many cities and towns across the world declare climate emergency state and draft climate plans. City halls across the world press for reduction of national emissions and provide incentives for building renovations and energy efficiency by regulating land utilization. Some cities take decisions to support electric vehicles and green energy.

For example, Istanbul 2050 Vision project, which was prepared by Istanbul Planning Agency, shows us the steps to take for Istanbul to be greener and fairer.

Green Transition Creates Millions of Jobs

As mentioned above, the argument that green transition will have more economic benefits has started to replace the argument that it will be too costly for the states.

This is because transition to green energy will create tens of thousands of jobs even only in the construction, operation and maintenance of new wind, solar and transmission lines! It is a difficult process to cleanse the economy from carbon. Important works are needed for energy efficiency as well as renewable energy consumption. Thus, it is expected to create millions of long-term and sustainable jobs with good salaries in the communities across the country. And the jobs that will be created by the green transition create another important incentive for the governments.

Smart-Agriculture is Becoming Popular

Agriculture is responsible for 24% of the global greenhouse gas emissions. Climate change reduces farming productivity and threatens the livelihoods of farmers. 2023, however, points to a new beginning for a climate-friendly agricultural practice.

• Danone, one of the leading dairy products companies in the world, announced that it will work together with farmers to reduce methane emissions originating from fresh milk supply chain and cause global warming by 30% by the year 2030.
• Food companies come together to exchange information about how they conduct their climate change studies.
• From the crops which have not been harvested to the ones which get moldy at the back of your fridge, foods produce methane gas, a strong greenhouse gas, when they are discarded. These foods end up at the dumps. Food waste is a subject matter which draws interest today more than ever since the 2nd World War. United Nations Environment Programme initiated the process to reduce food waste.

Financing Models are Increasing for Clean Energy

Even though countries have their plans to cleanse their economies from carbon... financing models which will help them to compensate for their prime costs for the transition to renewable energy are of high importance. The efforts on new financial models which will enable the transition to clean energy in inclusive, egalitarian, and fair methods are ongoing. Many affordable financing models are being developed, especially for developing countries. All these constitute the promising footsteps of green transformation!

What we do at Enerjisa

At Enerjisa, we acknowledge that we are responsible for building our common future.

It is a top priority for us to become a role model in our industry and be a pioneering company in green energy. Thus, 56% of our installed capacity is composed of domestic and renewable energy resources. We keep putting all our efforts for Türkiye as well as future generations through our 12 hydroelectric power plants, 5 wind power plants and 2 solar power plants.

We will continue to shape our future and to be pioneers in the green transformation in our country.

Don’t Lose Your Hope!

It seems that a clean energy world will be created in the coming years for the benefit of people as well as the planet. All of us are responsible in making this a reality:

• Talk about climate change with your entourage.
• Support climate action initiatives with your time and resources.
• Support leaders in clean energy and green transformation.
And most importantly, don’t lose hope!