Tuğçe Yılmaz
Drought, extreme heat, forest fires and water shortages ceased to be exceptional disasters in 2025; mega-projects, market-based climate policies and the effects of militarism on nature deepened the crisis.
2025 will go down in history as the year when the ecological and climate crisis ceased to be a series of exceptional events and became an integral part of everyday life in Turkey and around the world.
Drought, extreme heat, water shortages and agricultural losses ceased to be separate issues; mega-projects, market-oriented climate policies and the effects of militarism on nature became the main factors deepening this crisis.
The year also marked a critical threshold in terms of the spread of ecological resistance and the louder establishment of the link between peace and the defence of nature.
Extreme drought and record temperatures
Throughout 2025, temperatures measured across Turkey were significantly above seasonal norms.
Record temperatures were recorded in succession in many cities during the summer months; in some regions, the number of days above 40 degrees Celsius increased significantly compared to previous years. In the hottest July in 55 years, the all-time national temperature record was broken in Silopi.
Irregularities in the rainfall regime led to a failure of expected rainfall, particularly during the winter and spring months, and drought became a phenomenon that persisted throughout the entire year. The number of rainy days decreased by 14 per cent compared to the long-term average, amounting to 86 days.
The decline in groundwater levels has reached critical thresholds in agricultural basins, particularly in the Konya Plain. The increase in sinkhole formation, the drying up of wells, and farmers being forced to resort to deeper drilling indicate that water is no longer a renewable resource.
Drought emerged not only as an ecological problem but also as a crisis that deepened social inequalities with its chain of effects, ranging from food prices to rural poverty.
Forest fires
The summer of 2025 was recorded as a period when forest fires started early and could not be brought under control for a long time. Fires in the Mediterranean, Aegean and Southeast regions spread rapidly, fuelled by high temperatures, low humidity and strong winds. As well as the size of the burned areas, the proximity of the fires to residential areas and agricultural land posed a serious threat.
In June and July, fires in 53 cities burned more than 80,000 hectares. Seventeen people and hundreds of animals lost their lives in the fires.
Discussions regarding Turkey’s firefighting capacity continued throughout the year. Criticism focused on the inadequacy of aerial resources, the lack of coordination, the fuel load in forests, and the lack of transparency in post-fire rehabilitation processes.
Water cuts
By 2025, water cuts had evolved from a temporary measure in many cities, particularly Izmir, into a permanent management practice.
Reservoir levels remained critically low throughout the year, falling below 30 per cent in some major cities.
Unplanned urbanisation, population growth and the priority given to industry and agriculture made access to drinking water increasingly fragile.
While water was transported by tanker in some areas, the continued use of water by industrial facilities raised the question, ‘Who has the right to access water?’
Climate Law
2025 was a year in which discussions on the Climate Law were closely followed in Turkey.
The draft law was first submitted to the Grand National Assembly of Turkey on 20 February 2025, then approved by the Environment Committee on 27 March. On 15 April, discussions were temporarily suspended; however, by the end of June, expectations that the legislative process would be completed grew stronger. The text, which finally reached the implementation stage, was approved by the TBMM General Assembly on the night of 2-3 July 2025.
The law came into force upon its publication in the Official Gazette on 9 July 2025.
Although the official rationale for the law was to introduce a legal framework for Turkey’s 2053 net-zero emissions target and to establish a comprehensive basis for combating climate change, the content of the text was subject to serious criticism. The law centres on an Emissions Trading System (ETS) and market-based mechanisms to regulate greenhouse gas emissions; however, scientists and environmental experts have pointed out that this approach carries the risk of ‘over-reliance on market instruments’ in combating the crisis.
One of the main points of criticism was that the law did not include binding reduction timetables and clear targets. As the law did not provide a concrete roadmap for the phased reduction of fossil fuel use, it was described as ‘merely an emissions trading law focused on emissions trading’.
Consequently, although the law came into force in 2025 and provided a binding legal framework, its historical process, controversial content and axes of criticism turned it into a turning point showing how climate policies took shape in Turkey.
Agricultural frost
During the second half of February and throughout March, sudden drops in temperature and agricultural frost events in many regions of Turkey caused heavy losses in agricultural production.
The harsh cold that followed a relatively mild winter particularly affected early-flowering fruit trees. In some basins of the Aegean, Mediterranean, Central Anatolia and Eastern Anatolia, serious damage occurred to many products, especially apples, apricots, peaches, grapes and walnuts.
In some regions, crop losses approached 40-50 per cent; for small and medium-scale producers in particular, these losses meant not only a drop in income for one season, but also the risk of direct indebtedness and withdrawal from production.
The frost events clearly demonstrated that the climate crisis threatens agriculture not only with rising temperatures but also with sudden, unpredictable and extreme weather events.
The shifting of seasons and the disruption of flowering and harvesting calendars have made agricultural production structurally vulnerable.
Canal Istanbul
From the first months of 2025, the Canal Istanbul Project was back on the agenda despite all social, scientific and legal objections.
During the first half of the year in particular, activity along the canal route increased in terms of development plans, reserved construction areas and related infrastructure projects. This process showed that the project had not actually been shelved, but rather was being advanced piece by piece.
Throughout 2025, the effects of the Canal Istanbul on Istanbul’s drinking water basins were once again at the centre of debate. The Sazlıdere Dam and surrounding basins were particularly highlighted due to the risk of water loss that the project would create.
Scientists and professional organisations reiterated their warning that Istanbul’s water resources, already dwindling due to the climate crisis, would be irreversibly destroyed by the Canal Istanbul. During the same period, the opening up of agricultural land along the canal route for construction was considered a serious threat to food security and local production.
As summer approached, the ecological fragility of the Sea of Marmara became an integral part of the Canal Istanbul debate. With the risk of algal blooms, declining oxygen levels, and the deterioration of the marine ecosystem continuing, attention was drawn to the fact that the canal would further disrupt the water balance between the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara.
This year, the Canal Istanbul emerged not only as an infrastructure project but also as a symbol of the government’s insistence on mega-projects despite the climate crisis. At a time when drought, water shortages and extreme weather events directly affect daily life, the ecological costs of the project, defended under the banner of ‘development,’ have become more visible.
#COP30 and #COP31 hosted by Turkey
The 30th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP30) held in Belém, Brazil, and COP31 to be held in Turkey were among the most important global climate developments in 2025.
At COP30, countries:
Mobilised $1.3 trillion in climate finance annually until 2035,
Doubled adaptation finance by 2025 and tripled it by 2035,
Operationalising the Loss and Damage Fund and establishing regular replenishment cycles,
Launching the Global Implementation Accelerator and the Belém Mission for 1.5°C,
And, for the first time in COP history, committing to combat climate disinformation.
However, environmental organisations emphasised that the summit had become a ‘green showcase’.
It has been confirmed that COP31 will be hosted by Turkey in Antalya next year.
According to the agreement reached between Turkey and Australia, which have been competing to host the summit since 2022, an Australian representative will assume the role of ‘President of the Negotiations’.
Ecological resistance from Samandağ to Moda Bostanı
Despite this bleak picture, 2025 was a year in which local ecological resistance movements spread and gained strength by connecting with each other.
The struggles to defend agricultural land and olive groves in Samandağ, Kurtderesi and Dikmece were mentioned alongside the peasant resistance against mining and energy projects in Hesandin and Kulp.
The struggle that developed around Moda Bostanı in Istanbul became one of the symbols of the defence of common spaces in the city. As a result of the struggle, the controversial tender for Moda Bostanı and the surrounding area of approximately 12,000 square metres was cancelled in December 2025.
These resistance movements demonstrated that the ecological struggle is not only environmental; it is a collective protest against dispossession, rent-seeking policies, and exclusion from decision-making processes.
Source: Bianet