An annual investment of around $10 billion (TL 186 billion) to raise the capacity in solar, wind and storage technologies, in addition to reducing fossil fuel consumption, could help Türkiye achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050, the latest study showed on Monday.

Türkiye’s geographic, climatic and socioeconomic conditions make it highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change and other environmental hazards.

The country has made ambitious climate change commitments, ratifying the Paris Agreement last year and committing to net zero emissions by 2053.

Focus particularly this year has been shifted to drafting detailed plans and adopting the policies that will be vital to ensure the country achieves a net-zero balance in carbon emissions.

Türkiye was among the first signatories of the Paris Agreement but did not ratify the treaty until October last year as it viewed its categorization of a developed country in the annex to the deal as inaccurate.

Such categorization required the country to meet certain emissions reduction targets without benefiting from the financial support provided for developing countries.

The total cost of the transformation required for the country to achieve net zero emissions by 2050 is $101 billion in energy, transportation, buildings, industry and other productive sectors until 2030, or about $10 billion per year, according to Sabancı University Istanbul Policy Center’s (IPC) report on Monday.

The report titled "Türkiye’s Decarbonization Road Map: Sectoral Cost-Benefit Analysis" is due to be introduced on Tuesday at the 27th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP27).

By transitioning to net zero, Türkiye can expect a $42.1 billion reduction in health costs, the report estimates.

The report also showed that the country can invest less by reducing the use of fossil fuels to reach net zero emissions.

The electricity sector, which stands out as the most important industry in the transformation necessary to combat the climate crisis, needs an investment of $36.5 billion by 2030, the study reported.

This figure would decrease to $29 billion with a fall in coal and natural gas consumption, it added.

In the transportation sector, the cost of the transition to railways and electric vehicles is $12.5 billion, but the cost drops to $2 billion with savings from reduced oil consumption.

The biggest cost item is buildings, where urban transformation is also included due to the need for energy-efficient buildings. The cost of buildings, which approaches $100 billion, decreases by $41 billion due to the reduction in fossil fuel consumption.

The cost of the transformation required for industry and other productive sectors totals $21 billion.

Under the net zero scenario, Türkiye will avoid 1.35 billion tons of carbon dioxide emissions, with a fall in the country’s total emissions of 32% below 2018 levels in 2030.

"Türkiye has to reduce its emissions ambitiously and reach net zero to maintain our trade relations with Europe and fulfill the conditions of the Paris agreement," Umit Şahin, a climate change studies coordinator at the Istanbul Policy Center and editor of the report said.

By investing in its net zero-emission future, Türkiye can add a total of 28 gigawatts (GW) of additional solar energy and 23 GW of additional wind energy to its system, the report calculated.

The investment will also help the country integrate 5.67 GW of storage technologies into the system and increase its international interconnection line capacity.

Türkiye is establishing new institutional arrangements for climate change issues, including the recently renamed Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change and the updating of the National Climate Change Action Plan.

The intensification of climate-related events in recent years, including floods, forest fires and sea pollution and the potential implications of the European Union (EU) Green Deal for Türkiye’s economy, have also contributed to the urgency of the climate change agenda in the country.

In parallel, the war in Ukraine and attendant energy supply disruptions and price increases highlight risks for countries like Türkiye that are dependent on fossil fuel imports, reemphasizing the urgency of climate action in support of energy security and affordability.