Cop31: Turkey signs $5.1bn loan deals to boost green transition - Middle East Eye
Turkey signed 10 loan agreements worth $5.1bn with multilateral development banks on Thursday to accelerate its green transition.
Speaking at the signing ceremony on the sidelines of the UN climate conference Cop31 in Antalya, Treasury and Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek said no country could finance the green transition alone.
"No country's budget can meet the investment needs of this transformation on its own," he said. "That is why support from multilateral development banks is critically important to us."
The agreements were signed between the ministry and the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), the World Bank and the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB).
Simsek said Ankara had done its homework by thoroughly preparing projects and securing the financing needed to implement them.
The projects, he said, would create jobs and strengthen the Turkish economy. He added that Turkey had secured approximately $50bn in external financing from its development partners since 2023.
Turkey signed its first loan agreement with the ADB in November 2025, Simsek said.
With the latest deals, the bank's financing for Turkey would reach $3.1bn within a year, helping accelerate climate investment and improve access to finance for small and medium-sized enterprises.
ADB President Masato Kanda said the new agreements would support the construction of disaster-resilient hospitals, strengthen healthcare services and help train the next generation of doctors.
They would also expand long-term financing for small businesses, focusing on less-developed and earthquake-affected provinces and female entrepreneurs.
"Longer repayment periods will enable businesses to invest, rebuild, create jobs, and grow. Today's focus at COP31 is resilient cities, and the agreements signed support that goal," he said.
AIIB President Zou Jiayi said the bank would provide $1.6bn for the Turkey Climate Action Acceleration Program and its additional financing to support implementation of the country’s climate regulations.
The bank would also provide $300m through Turk Eximbank.
"This loan supports Turkey's green transition and helps its businesses withstand economic shocks," she said.
Ajay Banga, president of World Bank Group, said three agreements totalling $1.5bn had been signed that day to support cities, agriculture and industry.
That figure excludes the additional private-sector investment the bank hopes to mobilise.
Separately, Turkish Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar announced that Ankara had signed a preliminary deal worth $15bn with China's National Energy Administration to invest in renewable energy in Turkey, also on the sidelines of Cop31.
“With this agreement, which envisions a massive investment of approximately $15 billion in our country, we aim to implement a total of 7,000 megawatts of solar and wind power capacity, new energy storage systems, and 4,000 megawatts of electricity transmission infrastructure,” Bayraktar said.
He added that the memorandum of understanding will also facilitate technology transfer, enabling the production of wind turbine equipment within Turkey and giving a powerful boost to the development of its domestic industry.
