Sustainability Science Committee Established

Sustainability Science Committee Established Turkey's Exporters Assembly (TİM) has established the TİM Industry Sustainability Science Committee to meet the first target of its "TİM Sustainability Action Plan," announced with the message "We Produce for the World Without Consuming It." The committee will work to guide exporters in line with Climate Change, Sustainability and European Green Deal objectives. TİM President İsmail Gülle stated: "This is Turkey's Exporters Assembly. Our business is exports. But not exports at any cost. The most important principle we will not compromise on is a production approach that places people and the world at its center, respects all values, and does not harm the environment. Exporters are the finest practitioners of the sustainability concept. When we embarked on this path, we had two important responsibilities. The first was to achieve sustainable exports. Together, we accomplished this and anchored our exports to a sustainable foundation. Now our responsibility is to deliver sustainable foreign trade surplus. Last year, we delivered foreign trade surplus to 148 countries. It is up to us to sustain this success and increase the number of countries to which we deliver foreign trade surplus. By realizing the targets in our Action Plan one by one, we will make Turkey a brand country in the field of sustainability," he said. Turkey's Exporters Assembly (TİM), the umbrella organization of 61 exporter associations, 27 sectors and 100,000 exporters, continues its work with full force to reach export targets, strengthen the "Made in Türkiye" brand and leave a better Turkey for future generations. To achieve its goal of "Sustainable Turkey in All Areas," TİM prepared the "TİM Sustainability Action Plan" with the slogan "We Produce for the World Without Consuming It." To meet the first target of the Action Plan, the "TİM Industry Sustainability Science Committee" was established. The committee's first consultation meeting was held under the chairmanship of TİM President İsmail Gülle, with the participation of business leaders, university rectors, academics, representatives of Exporter Associations Sector Councils, and relevant stakeholders from public and private sectors. Gülle presented the Action Plan to committee members and listened to their views and suggestions. In his remarks at the meeting, Gülle emphasized that exporters are the finest practitioners of the sustainability concept: "We shared the roadmap of the TİM Sustainability Action Plan, which we prepared with the motto 'We Produce for the World Without Consuming It,' with the public on 21 June. This is Turkey's Exporters Assembly. Our business is exports. But not exports at any cost. The most important principle we will not compromise on is a production approach that places people and the world at its center, respects all values, and does not harm the environment. When we embarked on this path, we had two important responsibilities. The first was to achieve sustainable exports. Thank God, by accomplishing this together, we anchored our exports to a sustainable foundation. Now our responsibility is to deliver sustainable foreign trade surplus," he said. Noting that last year they managed to deliver foreign trade surplus to 148 countries, TİM President Gülle stated: "It is up to us to sustain this success and increase the number of countries to which we deliver foreign trade surplus. Our priority target for this goal is high value-added exports. But alongside this, exports that keep climate change and environmental issues constantly on the agenda. Because Climate Change has become the most urgent global problem that directly affects every dimension of our lives today as our most pressing responsibility to future generations. The European Union, to which we deliver foreign trade surplus, repeatedly expressing its goal of becoming a carbon-neutral continent is a very important development for our exports. There should be no doubt, our exporters will continue to deliver sustainable value-added together with the Green Deal. God willing, by realizing the targets in our Action Plan one by one, we will make Turkey a brand country in the field of sustainability. As a result of our work, as a country that produces for the world without consuming it, we will not only rise through exports thanks to our sustainable development model but will also become the first choice of everyone who values the environment," he said.

"We Announced Our First 'Sectoral Action Plan' in Textiles"

Gülle, stating that they are working with all their might with Turkey's Exporters Assembly and Exporter Associations to complete the process successfully, noted the following: To guide our work, we established sub-working committees for the first time in TİM history on "Sustainability and Climate" within our Climate Change Committee and Women's Council. We organized three different "TİM European Green Deal Awareness Meetings" with energy-intensive, resource-intensive and agriculture sector groupings. To increase the competency of our personnel working in Exporter Associations on climate change, we organized "Climate Change and EU Green Deal Training" in cooperation with Boğaziçi University's Climate Change and Policy Implementation and Research Center. We prepared the "European Pre-accession Assistance Instrument IPA III Project" call under the title of Green Agenda and Sustainability. For the İSTKA project call, we submitted a "Zero Carbon Facilitation Center" project proposal so that our exporters can adapt to carbon border adjustment. Within the framework of the COSME Program "Innovation and Technology in European Light Industry" call, we made a project application to accelerate our exporters' digital, technological and green transformation steps. We announced our first Sectoral Action Plan on 12 July specifically for our textile sector. Our application for membership in the European Climate Network was accepted under the scope of TÜBİTAK Network Membership Support. We also launched the "Climate Conversations" series. We held the first program with the attendance of the Head of the EU Turkey Delegation, Ambassador Nikolaus Meyer-Landrut. To answer our exporters' sectoral questions, we established a Green Line within ALO TİM. We will focus on promoting this line and informing the public. With 12 main targets in our Action Plan, we will make our country a brand in sustainability and realize our dream of "Sustainable Turkey in All Areas."

"We Will Publish a 'Sustainability Report' by Year End"

For a sustainable world, as a country that offers the bounties of the earth for the use of all humanity, we are acting with the motto of "Producing for the World Without Consuming It." In our TİM Sustainability Action Plan, our first target was to establish the TİM Industry Sustainability Science Committee and hold our first consultation meeting. With the support of our President, the coordination of our Ministry of Commerce and the contributions of relevant institutions, we will provide all necessary support to the 'Green Deal Action Plan' brought to life. We will follow the entire process closely in stages with sustainable export strategy, sectoral action plans and public consultation mechanisms. At the same time, we will create sector councils under the Science Committee, hold evaluation meetings and publish a "Sustainability Report" at the end of the year with the contributions of our committee members.

Other Targets in the Action Plan

The other targets that TİM President İsmail Gülle conveyed to committee members are as follows: Second Target: We will carry the "Zero Waste Project" implemented under the patronage of Emine Erdoğan to every sector in our exports. In this context, we will lead the creation of waste inventories for businesses and their consolidation and evaluation on a common platform; providing technical support to companies in line with the resulting inventory. We will also provide mentoring on waste minimization, energy generation from waste and development of waste management business models for exporters. Third Target: "TİM Digital Mentorship Program," one of our important Sustainability Action Plan projects, was launched under İnovaTİM coordination. We identified our pilot companies with our Exporter Associations. In a very short time, we received applications from 122 companies, initially from 5 sectors. With the TİM Digital Mentorship Program, we aim to serve as an important bridge between our universities and exporter companies, providing education and mentorship to our exporters. Because there is no similar digital mentorship program, we consider it very important to strengthen its infrastructure with both national and international funds. Under the umbrella of the Ecological Export Academy, which we will create with the contributions of our universities and academics, we have already prepared many trainings during the year for both project specialists working in our TİM and Exporter Associations and all companies, whether exporters or not, who wish to participate. Fourth Target: Opening a new chapter in corporate carbon footprint studies... In this regard, we will encourage companies to measure their corporate carbon footprint using scientific methods. Fifth Target: Adding value to our economy through circularity in industry and advanced recovery. On this topic, we will conduct education and awareness activities on material reuse, in-production waste recovery and reclamation of all materials that have completed their useful life. Sixth Target: Preventing pollution highlighted by the situation in the Marmara Sea by having the science committee work on advanced treatment technologies and our universities produce concrete projects for waste disposal. Seventh Target: We desire to address supply chain management on a sustainable basis. On this topic, we will follow the widespread adoption of the integrated environmental information system implemented by the Ministry of Environment and Urbanization. We will also conduct awareness activities to change the behavioral patterns, thinking and working methods of all stakeholders in the value chain. Eighth Target: Standardization. This subject is among our most important topics not only in the field of sustainability but in every matter related to our exports. Because standards are quite important in terms of branding. On this topic, we will facilitate our exporting sectors in sector councils to work in accordance with current international standards and access to financing. We will monitor and promote international standardization and certification practices. Ninth Target: We will further highlight certification practices in our exports. Here, we will apply the successful models we have implemented to all our sectors and integrate our work to all our exporting sectors. Tenth Target: We will focus on renewable energy sources in all areas. For the Renewable Energy Source Guarantee System, we will encourage certification processes to have international validity. We will contribute to our exporters benefiting more from EU funds focused on the Circular Economy Action Plan and the European Green Deal. Eleventh Target: We will encourage the establishment of authorized corporate and supply chain sustainability units in businesses. Thus, we will achieve economic growth supported by production activities, entrepreneurship, innovation and development-oriented policies. Twelfth Target: We will develop digital product passport and traceability applications. In this regard, we will be a pioneer in creating incentive areas for the dissemination of Sectoral Digital Product Passport applications with Blockchain technology. To meet financial needs, we will strengthen Eximbank and other domestic incentive mechanisms with international financing sources.