The Structural Transformation of Climate Policy: A Comparative Content Analysis of Turkish and International Climate Policy Discourses

Global climate change has evolved into a multidimensional crisis reshaping national and international policy priorities. The primary purpose of this study is to examine the structural transformation of the global climate regime and comparatively evaluate Türkiye’s discursive and institutional positioning within this landscape. Specifically, this research answers two key questions: (1) Through which policy documents can the historical and thematic turning points of the global climate regime be identified? and (2) Which conceptual frameworks dominate Türkiye’s national climate documents, and how closely do they align with global texts? Grounded in a qualitative document analysis framework exploring policy discourse, the methodology employs a document-based comparative content analysis utilizing deductive and interpretive approaches. Supported by ATLAS.ti25, 64 international and national policy, scientific, and institutional documents were systematically coded across five themes: mitigation, adaptation, loss and damage, finance, and just transition. Findings reveal that while Türkiye’s policies show increasing thematic diversification and institutionalization after 2010, alignment with the international agenda remains partial. Mitigation and financing themes frequently lack the thematic depth and detailed financial models present in global texts. Crucially, while emergent global concepts such as "Just Transition" are late and underdeveloped, the "Loss & Damage" theme remains entirely absent from Turkish policy documents. The study concludes that Türkiye requires a more proactive, multi-sectoral approach to achieve full thematic depth and financial sustainability in its climate governances.