EGİAD Holds Major Sustainability Summit

EGİAD Hosts Major Summit on Sustainability Path Climate change, economic fluctuations, war, reckless resource use, deforestation, and Covid-19 exposing supply chain flaws and vulnerabilities have repeatedly demonstrated that the global system requires fundamental reconsideration. On the other hand, these current threats have intensified the search for reshaping systems that protect both human and planetary health and transitioning to green transformation. Having raised its voice through various initiatives over the past two years to address the growing negative impacts created by the global climate crisis, EGİAD Izmir Young Businesspeople Association opened the doors of a sustainable new system to the business world through a major summit in this context. New risks and concerns emerging with the pandemic have made sustainable business transformation more important than ever. As climate change mitigation policies accelerate globally, their reflection on Turkey's agenda, the Climate Change Action Plan and the European Green Deal have made green transformation inevitable. In this era of change, those who successfully manage a just transition will be able to prepare their businesses for the future and the new economy. In this framework, EGİAD Izmir Young Businesspeople Association, which has gained a starting point from Izmir over the past two years and managed to draw attention, held a full-day summit on 16 November under the title Sustainability for the Future, under the main sponsorship of CK Architecture Interiors, bringing together the business world, digitalization and social transformation with the participation of all competent names. The summit at IZQ saw important stakeholders from all sectors present strategies, investments, innovations and collaborations driving transformation. The EGİAD Sustainability for the Future Summit held at IZQ Innovation Center was attended by Izmir Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Tunç Soyer, Karşıyaka Municipality Mayor Cemil Tugay, İZTO President Mahmut Özgener, Aegean Exporters Union President Jak Eskinazi, BASİFED President Mehmet Ali Kasalı, İZSİAD President Hasan Küçükkurt, Aegean Economic Development Foundation (EGEV) President Mehmet Ali Susam, İTB Board President Ömer Gökhan Tuncer, Denizli Young Businesspeople Association President Hakan Urhan. The opening speeches of the summit, organized under six panels on different topics, were delivered by EGİAD Board Chairman Alp Avni Yelkenbiçer, Izmir Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Tunç Soyer, Izmir Chamber of Commerce (IZTO) Board President Mahmut Özgener, and CK Architecture Interiors Founder Architect Cem Kapancıoğlu. EGİAD Board Chairman Alp Avni Yelkenbiçer noted that during their 16th term leading EGİAD, the main theme was "Dynamism and Sustainability," and as the term approaches its end, they wanted to crown their work with the "Sustainability for the Future" Summit. Stating that dynamism in the business world requires rapid work, quick movement, continuous improvement and striving for more and better, Yelkenbiçer emphasized that they also maintained balance through sustainability. Yelkenbiçer continued: "We all initially perceive sustainability in the dimension of 'climate change' because we face the reality that many world metropolises, including Istanbul, will be underwater by 2050. In other words, we face a mortal threat... We must fight together every day to protect our world." CK Architecture Interiors Founder Architect Cem Kapancıoğlu stated in his remarks that sustainability has brought major benefits to his company, saying, "We prioritized sustainability in all the products and materials we use and in all our work. This perspective has brought significant transformation and development to both us and our cities." Izmir Chamber of Commerce (IZTO) Board President Mahmut Özgener then took the stage: "Over the past 20 years, economic, financial, climate and even social crises of increasing frequency and severity show that we cannot use the world and all living things in it to serve economic growth. We must create and implement the opposite structure. In other words, economic growth must serve our planet's continuity and the survival of all living things on it."

We Are Putting Our Shoulder to the Wheel for Turkey's Future

Izmir Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Tunç Soyer used the words "For us, sustainability means loyalty to our heritage and our future," continuing, "We are working to pass on the 8,500-year legacy we received from the past to our young generation in pristine condition and to establish a life in Izmir compatible with change. And for this cycle to continue in harmony, we must do whatever is necessary together. In Izmir, we recognized this need as our planet has reached its current state. At the Culture Summit we organized in Izmir in September 2021, we presented a concept far more comprehensive than sustainability: 'Circular culture.' We have taken action to transform our city into a circular culture geography that is harmonious with nature, nurtured by harmony with one another, built on the foundations of harmony with our past and focused on living in harmony with change. I can proudly say that for this we developed for the first time in Turkey a strategic plan that fully encompasses the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Despite deepening poverty and pessimism, with this strategy we presented a roadmap to increase prosperity in our city and share it fairly."