Sustainability Must Remain on Our Agenda

According to the World Economic Forum's (WEF) Global Risks Report 2025, extreme weather events rank first among the risks for the next 10 years. Following closely behind are biodiversity loss, ecosystem collapse, critical changes in the Earth's systems, and the depletion of natural resources. Our approach to these environmental risks will be crucial in determining the future of humanity's relationship with nature.

We also witnessed the geopolitical risks last year in various parts of the world. The huge and unpredictable global uncertainty created by these developments is disrupting supply chains and triggering global inflation. When the impacts of these two factors, which closely affect our lives, are combined, the picture becomes even worse. On the one hand, the use of natural resources on our planet, which seems to have reached its limits, and on the other hand, geopolitical tensions show us that we need to take urgent measures for our future.

With this in mind, during this month's Assembly, we discussed the topics of “Evaluating Visionary and Innovative Collaboration Opportunities for a Circular Economy, Sustainable Green Development, and Earthquake-Safe Industry” with our guest, Minister of Environment, Urbanization, and Climate Change Mr. Murat Kurum, and members of our Chamber Assembly.

You can find the details in the following pages. Keeping this issue on our agenda is one of our most important responsibilities for the future of our country's economy, production, and future generations.

With this sense of responsibility, we also announced the results of a very important study we launched two years ago, the details of which you can also find in the following pages. The “ICI Sustainability Trends in Industry Survey” reveals the “Sustainability Scores” of our industrial firms, primarily focusing on “Awareness, Implementation, and Approach.” It was conducted face-to-face with hundreds of industrial firms from many regions of Türkiye. Our firms are still at the beginning of this sustainability journey, but the findings of our survey, especially the increasing awareness of sustainability, are promising for the future.

Another important report we released last month was our “Overview of the Livestock Sector; Challenges and New Approaches to Solutions”. It identified the issues and proposed solutions for the livestock sector, a key strategic area for our national security, socio-economic stability, and regional development. I believe that the data presented in the report, which also includes contributions from members of the ICI Group 5 Animal Food Products and ICI Group 9 Industrial Food Industry Professional Committees, will contribute to resolving the sector's challenges.

I wish you all a healthy and peaceful summer.

 Erdal Bahçıvan
Istanbul Chamber of Industry
Chairman of the Board of Directors