The Relationship Between Environmental Impact Assessment Practices and Climate Change Indicators in Turkey: Institutional Analysis of Ecological Adaptation

This study aims to evaluate the relationship between the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) process implemented in Turkey and climate change variables (greenhouse gas emissions, carbon footprint). The research questions the effectiveness of existing policies aimed at measuring the impact of EIA processes on climate change and analyses institutional compliance in the context of ecological sustainability. Panel data regression was chosen as the quantitative analysis method, and environmental and climatic data from 2003 to 2022 were analysed. As a result of unit root, Granger causality, and cointegration analyses, no significant relationship was found between EIA applications and greenhouse gas emissions in the short term, while a weak negative relationship was observed in the long term. The results indicate that the indirect impact of the EIA system implemented in Turkey on climate change is limited and that there is a need for a more comprehensive environment-climate integration