Turkey, the only country in the world that is partly in Europe and mostly in Asia is suffering from drastic inflation. Reuters reports that Turkey’s inflation rose this year to almost 70%, with strong increases in the prices of hotels, education and restaurants.
According to the Turkish Statistical Institute month-on-month, consumer price inflation was 3.18% in April compared with 3.16% in March.
As we see in Lebanon with inflation spiraling out of control, people return to the basics. Solar energy installations are now becoming essential for surviving rolling blackouts and people skip the restaurants and make healthier food at home. The ongoing war between the Ukraine and Russia is one of the reasons that the global economy is out of whack. Even in stable countries like Canada, young people say they are no longer able to afford the cost of rent. Buying a house is out of the question.
What news organizations fail to talk about is climateflation, the significant rise in prices triggered by the impact of climate change, as extreme weather events. The most classic and typical example is the increase in food prices, where we see prices go up due to fewer goods being produced as a result of a reduction in agricultural activity and damage to crop yields.
Positive Money, an EU NGO explains that central banks must acknowledge the existence of fossilflation and climateflation, and adapt their policymaking accordingly.
Turkey is no stranger to climateflation: Droughts and heatwaves are the main hazards due to the climate of Turkey getting hotter. The temperature has risen by more than 1.5 °C (2.7 °F), and there is more extreme weather. Lake Marmara has completely dried out; a lawsuit ongoing in 2024 alleges that there is not enough rainfall for upstream irrigation dams. Meanwhile Turkey is dead set on the idea that nuclear energy is clean energy.
Turkey has a terrible track record for dissenting voices on climate change. Remember the Gezi Park protests in 2013? Being an eco-activist in Turkey is life-threatening. This couple was murdered for trying to save the trees.
