The Green Deal, originally known as the “Green Deal”, was first used as a concept in 2007 by Pulitzer Prize winner Thomas Friedman. Friedman, an American political commentator, author and journalist, has been awarded the Pulitzer Prize three times and is renowned for his environmentalist work. He has written extensively on global trade, the Middle East, globalisation and the environment, and has contributed to the shaping of the current concept of the Green Deal and its impact.
It is an accepted fact that in recent years, when our natural resources on earth are rapidly depleting and climate changes have started to leave visible damages, it is not possible to compensate for these damages with some small incentives and efforts. Another fact that should be recognised is that the risks arising from the damages to the earth cannot be taken lightly and ignored any longer, and that the whole world should join hands, not just a few groups, in order to at least slow down these damages to the earth with great efforts and serious sacrifices.
Climate change and global warming, which threaten all living life, are increasing the size of the damages caused to the economy with each passing day. In a study titled “Economic Consensus on Climate Change” conducted by New York University, 738 economists from different countries who are experts in the field of climate change were studied and as a result of this study, it was announced that the economic damage caused by climate change is expected to reach 30 trillion dollars by 2075.
The Green Deal, which Thomas Friedman laid the foundations for and is considered one of the largest agreements ever made against global warming and climate change, was published in November 2019. With the Green Deal, a European Union agreement, the targets that the Union wants to achieve by 2050 have been announced. Some of these goals are stated as reducing exhaust gas emission to zero, reducing the dependence of economic growth on resource use, increasing the quality of natural life, increasing the use of natural resources available on earth. The biggest of these goals is the goal of becoming a carbon neutral continent by 2050. In line with this goal, regulations, incentives and perhaps new regulations that will affect the whole world trade from this point onwards have been introduced in order to reduce carbon emissions.
The agreement, which includes these and similar arrangements, has had great repercussions not only for the member states of the European Union, but also for other states that have close commercial relations with the European Union. Because the agreement does not only mention the standards set for the European Union countries. In addition, the standards required for all kinds of commercial activities of the European Union countries with other countries have also been determined. At this point, we must recognise that this agreement must be taken seriously in order for our country to continue its active commercial life with the countries in the European Union in a healthy way.
All non-European Union countries, which, like our country, were not previously bound by any sanctions in terms of these and similar environmental criteria, should bring updates that can be as parallel as possible to these regulations and reshape their undertakings within this framework, as long as they want to survive in international trade with these new regulations.
After the COVID-19 pandemic, which is a completely different global crisis, the criteria sought for the economic rescue funds provided to countries clearly demonstrated how essential the Green Deal compliance process is. Among the most important criteria sought for companies to benefit from economic rescue funds was to have a green economy. Enterprises with a green economy are roughly defined as enterprises with an economic cycle that is in line with the requirements of the Green Deal.
Being a green economy, having an environmentally friendly attitude and, of course, having a cycle parallel to the requirements of the Green Deal as much as possible are considered as the biggest investment to play a role in the future of international trade. It is inevitable that enterprises that do not attach the necessary importance to these investments will have future concerns and fears.
Although it is clear that we are not a party to this agreement and we are free from the sanctions in question, we should listen to the requirements of the Green Deal in order not to stay away from the incentives of commercial life and even not to break away from commercial life.
The first steps of the enterprises that want to take action in order to have a green economy should be to determine their carbon footprints and to determine where they are based on the result values. For enterprises that are far away from the ideal values, the studies they will start on how to idealise these values under the guidance of the Green Consensus criteria will be a very valuable first step. It is an undeniable fact that every step to be taken in order to adapt to this green economy model, which is outlined by international regulations, will be of great importance for all companies, institutions and organisations in our country to survive in international trade and to benefit from international investments and resources in the future.
[1] New York University / Institute for Policy Integrity – March 2021
