Projects

Green Transformation of Turkish Industry Programme

The Business for Goals (B4G) Platform closely monitors the European Green Deal (EGD) process that focuses on combating climate change and environmental degradation, and prioritizes work on enhancing the harmonization of national industries with the EGD in line with the objectives of a) enhancing the contribution of business community to climate change response, b) enabling businesses to prepare for the future economy c) implementing inclusive business models to ensure no one is left behind in Turkey.

Two WGs were established in the preparation of Green Transformation of Turkish Industry Programme with the participation of programme partners and experts under the coordination of B4G Platform. The WGs of Green & Circular Economy (GCE) and Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) serve for developing the programme, defining required cooperation and structuring implementation process.

Under this programme, B4G’s work areas will be organised to be guiding for carbon footprint of the products developed under EGD, extended consumer responsibility, sustainable production, sustainable product policy framework, eco-design, traceability in supply chains, human rights in global supply chains, compulsory situation diagnosis and adaptation in environment and good governance subjects, EU consumer agenda, the policies and strategies such as EU taxonomy (sustainable financing) in addition to CBAM and Circular Economy Action Plan.

Through this programme that will bring together authorities and experts of relevant ecosystem actors and sectors prioritised in our country under EGD:

  1. Advocacy will be pursued that national strategies, action plan and mechanisms are structured in favour of the Turkish industry by following relevant international processes and legal regulations.
  2. Clean technologies adaptation will be accelerated to adapt the Turkish industry to CBA, facilitate transition to circular economy and increase the level of digitalisation.

Two WGs were established in the preparation process of Green Transformation of Turkish Industry Programme with the participation of experts of programme partners under the coordination of B4G Platform. The WGs of GCE and CBAM serve for developing the programme, defining required cooperation and structuring implementation process.

GREEN & CIRCULAR ECONOMY WORKING GROUP (GCE-WG)

The European Union prepared an Action Plan in 2020 to make circular economy the dominant economy model in European Union market where raw material and resource consumption would be minimised; clean technologies fully effective; lifecycle of products kept at maximum. B4G Platform will follow the reflections of that action plan in our county for the aim of transitioning to circular economy; determine the areas of need in the transition to circular economy and the opinions and projects which will contribute to the transformation will be discussed.

GCE-WG Meetings

You can access the list of participants of GCE-WG Meetings here.

Meeting I 28.06.2021 26 Participants from 16 entities Meeting Minutes
Meeting II  07.09.2021 28 Participants from 18 entities Meeting Minutes
Meeting III 18.11.2021 27 Participants from 16 entities Meeting Minutes
Meeting IV 8.2.2022 42 Participants from 29 entities Meeting Minutes

CARBON BORDER ADJUSTMENT WORKING GROUP (CBA-WG)

The proposal publicised by the European Commission seems to be outlining the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) which calls for taxing products introduced into the EU Market depending on their carbon content. The sectors with high energy- and carbon-intensive sectors including primarily iron, steel, cement, aluminium, electricity and fertilizer will be subject to CBA. B4G Platform established multi-disciplinary and multi-actor CBA-WG for prioritised sectors and supply chains with the aim of harmonisation with this process.

CBA-WG Meetings

You can access the list of participants of CBA-WG Meetings here.

Meeting I 11.10.2021 21 Participants from 14 entities Meeting Minutes
Meeting II 25.11.2021 18 Participants from 13 entities Meeting Minutes
Meeting III 7.2.2022 23 Participants from 15 entities Meeting Minutes

Executive Boards were established to ensure that multiple-member WG activities would be undertaken in a way to make quick decisions and in the framework of an action plan; they were selected from the representatives of associations, chambers of industry, exporters’ associations, representatives of relevant NGOs and the representatives of companies. The Chair of WG is the Chair of Executive Board as well.

MEMBERS OF EXECUTIVE BOARDS

  • Umay Yılmaz
    Umay Yılmaz
  • Serter Koray Hatipoğlu
    Serter Koray Hatipoğlu
  • Selahattin Armağan Vurdu
    Selahattin Armağan Vurdu
  • Onur Ünlü
    Onur Ünlü
  • Noyan Ergül
    Noyan Ergül
  • Mukaddes Ersoy
    Mukaddes Ersoy
  • Merve Güngör Saltalı
    Merve Güngör Saltalı
  • Meral Uslu
    Meral Uslu
  • Konca Çalkıvik
    Konca Çalkıvik
  • İdil Dilan Öğüt
    İdil Dilan Öğüt
  • Gülhan Özdemir
    Gülhan Özdemir
  • Emre Metin
    Emre Metin
  • Çağrı Koseyener
    Çağrı Koseyener
  • Başak Helen Taşkan
    Başak Helen Taşkan
  • Başak Demir Saral
    Başak Demir Saral
  • Aygen Erkal
    Aygen Erkal
Umay Yılmaz

Umay Yılmaz is a graduate of Anadolu University, Department of Environmental Engineering, Yılmaz started his career in 2004 in a company operating on treatment systems. Afterwards, she carried out projects with the Ministry of Environment and Urbanization, official institutions, various unions and associations. She has spoken on environment, recycling, waste management and sustainability on various platforms, numerous conferences, symposiums, congresses, and received various awards on her projects.

She has taken roles in universities, associations, foundations, organizations, press and media relations, and provided training on the circular economy by providing consultancy on the environment and sustainability between 2018-2020. Umay Yılmaz, has been a guest lecturer at various universities and also has a TEDx talk titled “My Plan to Save the World”. Umay Yılmaz, who is doing her master’s degree on climate change at ITU Eurasia Institute of Earth Sciences, is currently the General Secretary of the OMÜD Corrugated Cardboard Manufacturers Association. She also offers training on environment, sustainability, circular economy, climate change and the European Green Deal in national and international channels. She writes articles and gives speeches.

Serter Koray Hatipoğlu

Hatipoğlu completed his undergraduate education at the Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering at Middle East Technical University. After completing his master’s degree in the same department, he graduated from the Middle East Technical University Industrial Engineering Master’s Program. After serving as Director and Assistant General Manager in organizations such as Doğuş Group and Karnaval Media, he assumed the position of General Secretary at the Radio and Television Broadcasters Professional Association. Since 2017, he has been the General Secretary of the Casting Industrialists’ Association.

Selahattin Armağan Vurdu

Dr. Selahattin Armağan Vurdu started his undergraduate education at the Department of Naval Architecture at Istanbul Technical University. After graduating from the Middle East Technical University Faculty of Business Administration, he completed his master’s degree in the Department of International Political Economy at Warwick University in England. He completed the European Union Specialization Program at Ankara University European Communities Research and Application Center-ATAUM, and the Leadership, Individual and Team Performance Coaching certificate programs at Paris-based International Mozaik and London-based Performance Consultants International (PCI). He attended the General Agreement on Foreign Capital and Trade in Services (GATS) Principles and Practices Certificate Program at the International Development Law Institute in Rome. He completed the International Trade Doctorate Program at Istanbul Commerce University and received the title of Doctor.

Since 1996, Foreign Trade Specialist at the Undersecretariat of Foreign Trade, Commercial Counsellor of the London Embassy, Private Secretary at the Ministry of State (Responsible for Foreign Trade, Customs and Eximbank), Deputy General Manager for European Union, General Manager for Economic Research and Evaluation, Turkic World Working Group After serving as the Chairman of the Free Zones General Manager, he served as the Ministry Counsellor in the Ministry of Economy. He was appointed as the General Secretary of IMMIB on August 26, 2015. In addition to his duty at IMMIB, he teaches at Istanbul Commerce University and Istanbul Aydın University as a lecturer, and writes weekly columns in Dünya newspaper.

Born in Mersin in 1972, Vurdu is married and has two children.

Onur Ünlü

Onur Ünlü graduated from Yıldız Technical University Faculty of Mechanical Engineering with the title of Mechanical Engineer and completed his Engineering Business Management master’s degree at the University of Warwick in England.

He started his career in Üniversal Makine ve Isı Sanayi Tic. A.Ş. Company as an Industrial Systems Sales Engineer. He still provides services to industrial enterprises in the fields of energy efficiency and management consultancy, efficiency-enhancing project applications and energy performance contracts at ESCON Enerji A.Ş. He has provided energy auditing, consultancy and system solutions services to more than a thousand national and international companies and international financial institutions such as the World Bank, EBRD and UNIDO. He has also implemented Turkey’s first and a total of 26 successful Energy Performance Contracts.

Many academic articles and research studies of Onur Ünlü, who is a Certified Energy Manager, Survey Project Specialist and Performance Contracting and Funding Professional (PCF), have been published in national and international media. He still continues as EYODER President, TURKONFED Board Member and GREEN TRANSFORMATION COMMISSION Co-Chairman. He is a member of TOBB Air Conditioning Council, AEE (Association of Energy Engineers), TTMD and MMO and the president of WASTE HEAT COMMISSION.

Noyan Ergül

Born in Istanbul in 1976, Noyan Ergül has a bachelor’s degree from Istanbul University, Faculty of Communication. He took part in PrNet Media Measurement company as Research Group Coordinator and managed the team for media measurement, analysis and reporting for leading holdings, industrial organizations and brands for 6 years. He gave lectures on Media Measurement and Analysis at Akademi Istanbul. With Zen PR, of which he is the founding partner, he has served global FMCG brands with social responsibility and direct marketing projects. For 10 years, he managed health education projects for secondary and high school students throughout Turkey. He led the promotion and reputation efforts of the brands for doctors, healthcare professionals and patients. He then worked as Projects Director at SuCSR, the most long-established social responsibility agency in the industry, for 4 years. At the beginning of 2019, he started to work as the Manager responsible for stakeholder relations and corporate cooperation at the Turkish Green Crescent Society. He has been working as the Business Development and Stakeholder Relations Manager at the Business World and Sustainable Development Association since November 2021.

Mukaddes Ersoy

Mukaddes Ersoy Er, born in February 1986 in Bulgaria, completed her undergraduate education at Dokuz Eylül University at the department of Environmental Engineering between 2005-2009. After completing her undergraduate education, she started her career as an Environmental Consultant in various sectors of the industry. She also worked as an Environmental Engineer & Occupational Safety Specialist in companies such as Enta Mühendislik Arıtma Taah. San. Tic. A.Ş. and Elif Plastik Ambalaj San. ve Tic. A.Ş. As of 2018, she continues her career as an Integrated Management System Specialist within Tav Holding – Havaş. Since completing her Corporate Sustainability Specialization training at Uludağ University, she has been taking an active role in the sustainability committees of TAV Holding.

Merve Güngör Saltalı

Born in 1995, Merve Güngör Saltalı graduated from Çukurova University, Department of Biomedicine. She started her career in the Logistics department of the Association for Assistance with Refugees and Asylum Seekers in 2018 and later worked at various levels in different non-governmental organizations. In 2020, she has started to work as a Finance and Procurement Specialist for the Project of Bringing Societies to Green Industry with Employment (YESAD) in Adana Chamber of Industry (ADASO). Within the scope of the project, it focused on self-development in subject areas such as green agreement, carbon footprint measurement/reduction and sustainability, and on the implementation and execution of projects in these subject areas. Saltalı continues to work in the YESAD Project at ADASO.

Meral Uslu

Meral Uslu, completed her undergraduate education in the Department of Industrial Engineering at the University. She has been serving in information technologies and strategy since 2015 and is currently working as the Economic Research Branch Manager in İMMİB. She continues her graduate studies in Foreign Trade Institute, Trade Diplomacy department at Istanbul Ticaret University.

Konca Çalkıvik

Konca Calkivik began her career at Standard Chartered Bank in 1989. She joined the Eczacıbaşı Group in 1990. She took part at the establishment stage of VitrA Tiles Company and led the foundation and management of the sales organization of VitrA ceramic tile products. Mrs. Calkivik represented the company worldwide between 1996 and 2006. She worked actively in Turkish Ceramics Promotion Committee which was part of the Ceramics Federation. While she was working as the Marketing Manager, Mrs. Calkivik focused on innovation and sustainability. She joined BCSD Turkey as Project Manager in March 2012. Since February, 2013 Mrs. Calkivik is the Executive Director of BCSD Turkey.

Konca Calkivik is a graduate of Bosphorus University, Department of Political Science and International Relations, is highly proficient in German and English.

İdil Dilan Öğüt

İdil Dilan was born in 1984 in Iskenderun. After her undergraduate education in Food Engineering, she did her Master’s in Psychology. She has held various positions in the private sector, and has been working in the Mediterranean Exporters’ Association since 2012. She speaks English and intermediate level Arabic. She strives to prioritize scientific curiosity, goodwill, conscientiousness and love to everything else and reflect this into her daily practice.

Gülhan Özdemir

Gülhan Özdemir acquired her bachelor’s degree from the Department of Business Administration-Economics at Istanbul Bilgi University in 2003. She started her career as a Corporate Marketing Specialist at a Software Company in Germany. After that she attained experience on European Union funded project preparation and implementation at Bosphorus Training and Consultancy Company. She has also worked as Project Coordinator at Türkiye Üçüncü Sektör Vakfı (TÜSEV) and Tohum Otizm Vakfı on internationally funded projects. Özdemir, who was in Italy between 2008-2009, has started her assignment in Adana Chamber of Industry (ADASO) as of 2012. She has taken active roles in Adana Model Factory, Innovation Center, Sustainability Center, Digital Center, Foreign Trade Intelligence Center and Professional Development Center and ADASO Academy. Özdemir has been implementing Trade Map Usage Training for the members and the university since 2015, free of charge. Özdemir is currently working as the Projects Unit Coordinator of ADASO to run the projects and utilize national and international project funds.

Emre Metin

Emre Metin has been working in the fields of Electrical Engineering, certification, accreditation and consultancy for 18 years. His areas of expertise are electrical engineering audit services (IEC 62305, IEC 60364, EN 50110, NFPA 70E), arc flash analysis, personal protective equipment selection, occupational safety analysis, international certification and accreditation, certification-market trends, data analysis and interpretation and development and implementation of research tools. He enjoys generating new ideas, working as a team, strategizing for new country markets and developing viable solutions to a wide range of related problems. His special interests include monitoring international standards development studies (ISO, IEC, SAE, API, IEEE, NFPA).

Additional Fields of Work: Management Systems Certification – ISO 17021, Inspection Services Certification – ISO 17020, Personnel Certification – ISO 17024, Textile Certification (Cradle to Cradle), Food Certification (Halal Certification-SMIIC), Agriculture Certification (Rainforest Alliance), Machinery Safety and Electrical Safety.

Çağrı Koseyener

He was born in 1972 in Kadirli.

Between 1996 and 2017, He served as Assistant Specialist, Specialist, Consultant to the Undersecretary, Branch Manager, and Head of Department at the Prime Ministry of Foreign Trade (currently known as Ministry of Trade). He worked at the General Directorate of Exports, the General Directorate of Product Safety and Inspection, and the General Directorates of Free Zones, Overseas Investment and Services. Between 2006 and 2009, he served as the Hamburg Commercial Attaché.

Since February 2018, he has been serving as Ankara Representative under the Sustainability, Public and Corporate Relations Coordinator at Eczacıbaşı Holding. He graduated from Boğaziçi University, Department of Political Science and International Relations in 1995. He completed his MA in Public Administration at Columbia University in 2002.

He is married and a father of two children

Başak Helen Taşkan

After graduating from ITU Environmental Engineering Department in 1997, Basak worked as an engineer in EU supported projects for about a year. In the following period, she worked as an operation and management systems manager in the field of dangerous goods transportation by road in the logistics sector. She continues to work on corporate sustainability, business excellence and management systems up to now. She carried out third party audits and gave trainings as a lead auditor on behalf of accredited certification companies in national and international companies. For the last fifteen years, she has been taking responsibilities as a manager in the development and management of corporate responsibility and sustainability strategies in the aviation industry, ensuring the continuity of their practices within the organization, developing tools and systems suitable for the company structure to manage environmental, social and economic factors in a balanced way, and adapting them to institutions and organizations. After completing her master’s degree at the Department of Organizational Psychology at Bilgi University, she carries out process development studies focused on the diffusion of sustainability strategy within organizations and its relationship with organizational culture. Basal conduct audits as the first and only evaluator in Turkey of the Safety & Quality Assessment for Sustainability (SQAS), a third-party assessment system designed to evaluate the quality, safety, security, environmental and corporate social responsibility performances of logistics service providers and chemical distributors, developed by the Belgium-based European Chemical Industry Council (CEFIC) since 2008.

Başak Demir Saral

Başak has worked towards sustainable development for the last twenty years. Her work aimed to empower individuals as well as communities to actively participate in social, economic and political life as change makers. Thus, she has always prioritized capacity development for resilience, as well as sustainability and development.

With this perspective, she has designed, developed, led and monitored project-based partnerships with private sector, government and non-government organizations on sustainable development topics at institutions including Business for Goals Platform, DCube Circular Economy Cooperative, Habitat Association, Building Markets and UNDP. These projects have addressed issues on youth empowerment, gender equality, active citizenship, community empowerment, local governance, financial inclusion and education, digitalization and technology innovation, enhancement of entrepreneurship ecosystems, green, inclusive and socially responsible business creation and development, livelihoods support for refugees, and circular economy solutions.

Başak is an Executive Board Member of GEN Turkey, Istanbul Climate Platform, and the Sustainable Urban Development Network; an independent member of the Project Board of SDG Impact Accelerator, and an active member, TOBB Youth and Women Entrepreneurship Boards of Turkey and the National Network on Checks and Balances. She serves on the board of directors of various companies and social enterprises as a founding partner. Previously, Başak sit at the executive board of the World Academy for Local Democracies of UCLG-MEWA, served as the Vice Chair of the Advisory Board on Youth of Council of Europe and contributed to the 11th Development Plan of Turkey as members of Entrepreneurship and Women Policies Development Groups.

Aygen Erkal

After completing her high school education at Kadıköy Anatolian High School, Aygen Erkal graduated from Istanbul Technical University, Department of Metallurgical Engineering, and received her MBA from Nottingham University, England. Aygen Erkal, who served as Assistant General Manager at Masan Makine between 1999 and 2010, has been working as the General Secretary since 2013, where she started as the Business Development Coordinator at the Turkish Construction Material Industrialists’ Association (Turkey IMSAD).

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