TİM Unveils Action Plan for Sustainability

Turkish Exporters Council Chair İsmail Gülle stated: "God willing, we will realize the targets in our Action Plan one by one, making Türkiye a flagship country in sustainability."

Turkish Exporters Council Women's Board led the presentation of the TİM Sustainability Action Plan, prepared under the slogan "We produce for the world without consuming it," in Istanbul with the participation of TİM Chair İsmail Gülle, TİM Women's Board Members and Sectors Council representatives. At the presentation meeting, TİM Chair Gülle said the TİM Women's Board has accomplished significant work in a short time. Expressing great enthusiasm about the mobilization launched by TİM for a sustainable future, Gülle continued his remarks as follows: "Turkey's most prominent sustainable activity is exports. Exporters are the soldiers who know the concept of sustainability best. Within sustainability there is stability, integrity, standing firm, love of country, love of humanity, love of nature, and most importantly, there is love, there is sharing. When we set out on this path as exporters, we had two important duties. The first of these was to achieve sustainable exports. Thank God we accomplished this together. We placed our exports on a sustainable foundation. Now our duty is to deliver sustainable trade surplus. Last year we delivered trade surplus to 148 countries. It is in our hands to sustain this success and increase the number of countries to which we deliver trade surplus. However, we must keep climate change and environmental issues constantly on the agenda. Because climate change has now become not just the problem of future generations, but directly our problem today." Noting that since taking office in 2018, the EU, to which trade surplus is delivered, has repeatedly emphasized its goal of becoming a carbon-neutral continent, which is a very important development for exports, Gülle stated that exporters will continue to deliver sustainable value added alongside the Green Deal.

"Our Action Plan will lead us to achieve sustainable Türkiye in every field"

Gülle explained that they prepared the "Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance IPA III" project call under the heading "Green Agenda and Sustainability," and submitted a project application for the "Zero Carbon Facilitation Centre" to help exporters adapt to carbon border adjustment under the İSTKA project call. Stating that they submitted a project application that would accelerate exporters' digital, technological and green transformation steps under the COSME Programme "Innovation and Technology in European Light Industry" call, Gülle said, "We completed our efforts for membership in the European Climate Network under the TUBITAK Network Membership Support scheme. We are hopeful for positive results. All these efforts, enriched by the excellent work and efforts of our Women's Board, enabled us to implement the Sustainability Action Plan."

Gülle stated that the 12 main targets in the TİM Sustainability Action Plan will brand Türkiye in terms of sustainability and achieve the goal of "sustainable Türkiye in every field."

Announcing that they set 12 main targets in the Action Plan, Gülle listed them under their main headings as "TİM Science Board on Sustainability in Industry, Zero Waste Mobilization in Exports, Digital Mentoring and Training Programmes, Corporate Carbon Footprint Studies, Circularity and Advanced Recovery in Industry, Advanced Treatment Technologies, Sustainable Supply Chain Management, Standardization Implementation, Certification Implementation, Renewable Energy Sources, Sustainable Economic Growth and Employment, Digital Product Passport and Traceability." Gülle said "We will support digital transformation in industry with the goal of quality, high value-added exports. I commend our TİM Women's Board, which has presented this vision and pioneered initiatives under the heading of 'sustainability.' God willing, by realizing the targets in our Action Plan one by one, we will make Türkiye a flagship country in sustainability. As a result of our efforts, our country, which produces for the world without consuming it, will both rise through exports with its sustainable development model and become the first choice of everyone who values the environment." He used these words.

"Our first target is to establish the TİM Science Board on Sustainability in Industry"

Providing information about the 12 main targets in the TİM Sustainability Action Plan, Gülle noted the following: "Our first target is to establish the TİM Science Board on Sustainability in Industry. With the board we will establish as TİM in line with the Action Plan implemented under the leadership of our President, we will monitor the progress of our sectors. We will have the opportunity to closely follow the entire process step by step through sustainable export strategy, sectoral action plans and public consultation mechanisms. Additionally, by establishing sector boards under the Science Board, we will conduct evaluation meetings and publish a Sustainability Report at the end of the year. Our second target is to extend the 'Zero Waste Project' carried out under the patronage of Emine Erdoğan to every sector in our exports. In this context, we will lead in creating waste inventories of enterprises and consolidating them on a common platform, evaluating them, and providing technical inventory to companies. We will also mentor waste minimization, energy generation from waste, and development of waste management business models for exporters." Gülle explained that through "Digital Mentoring and Training" programmes, they will create a sustainability ecosystem, and in this regard, they have planned numerous training and projects under the Ecological Exports Academy. Addressing other targets in the Action Plan, Gülle said, "One of our targets is in the field of 'advanced treatment technologies,' which has become more prominent in recent days due to the situation in the Sea of Marmara. In this context, we will carry out work on improving existing infrastructure with advanced wastewater treatment technologies and evaluating wastewater from industrial facilities." Answering journalists' questions, Gülle spoke about the mucilage problem in the Sea of Marmara, saying, "If what has been done so far had been sufficient, the Sea of Marmara would not be in this condition today, but given the current situation, this is not a problem that can be solved by placing it solely on the state. NGOs also need to do their part."   Source