BP Turkey will support university student-inspired social initiatives across 20 provinces of the country to help young people develop projects in line with sustainable development goals, announced company officials late Monday.

The corporate social responsibility project, launched under the theme "Development, With You," was introduced at a meeting attended by BP Turkey Country President Joe Murphy, Vice President Hakan Ertürk and Corporate Communications Manager Eda Gökay.

In her speech, Gökay said BP had embarked on similar projects across the globe for two years. She added that the project "Development, With You" has been shaped according to Turkey's unique needs.

She said this was the company's first such project in Turkey. "We aim to contribute to the development of young people, who will lead us in the future, and to be with them in the projects they see as important for society."

Murphy said a transformation was taking place in the global energy sector and young people must play a part in it.

"Sometimes young people criticize BP because it is a fossil fuel company," Murphy said, adding that "At BP, we devote more than half of our capital to energy conversion. We care very much about social responsibility projects for sustainable development."

The first phase of the project is due to take place over the next two years, during which BP Turkey will provide interactive information to young people through its digital education portal. The objective is to reach at least 100,000 young people through the portal, via which participants will be given information on various issues.

The second pillar of the project will involve student societies at various universities. In this context, BP Turkey will meet with the student clubs of universities across 20 cities and support 35 social initiatives developed by students within the context of the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals.

BP Turkey has set a budget of TL 1 million for the launch of the project and will increase this figure according to the nature of the initiatives as they unfold. Dealers, distributors and other employees in the BP ecosystem will share their experiences with young people voluntarily.