The fifth online talk titled "Recent Developments in Climate Change and Sustainability," organized by the ÇEVKO Foundation in collaboration with the Global Warming Congress Committee, was held on September 29, 2025, with a large turnout.
The event, moderated by Celal Toprak, Chairman of the Global Warming Congress Committee, featured speakers including ÇEVKO Foundation Secretary General Mete İmer, Hayat Kimya Global Corporate Communications and Sustainability Director Çağlayan Kent, Özyeğin University Climate Ambassador Emre Yiğit Ay, and Istanbul Gelişim University Sustainable Environment and Society Application and Research Center Director and International Trade and Business Faculty Member Assoc. Prof. Başak Özarslan Doğan.
The talk emphasized that the climate crisis must be addressed not only in its environmental but also in its social, economic, and geopolitical dimensions.
“The Sustainability of Critical Minerals Should Not Be Ignored”
In her speech, Assoc. Prof. Başak Özarslan Doğan highlighted the unseen risks behind the energy transition, emphasizing that critical minerals such as lithium, cobalt, and nickel, which form the basis of green technologies such as wind turbines and electric vehicles, are mostly sourced from regions with high environmental and social risks.
“Clean energy should be clean not only in its outcome but also in its process,” said our professor, highlighting issues such as child labor, human rights violations, and ecological destruction in the regions where these minerals are extracted. Özarslan Doğan cited cobalt production in Congo as an example, emphasizing that solutions developed for sustainability should not lead to new ethical problems.
Our professor also stated that climate policies are in conflict with energy security, wars, and economic crises. He noted that the Russo-Ukrainian War had driven Europe back to coal use, and stated, "Climate goals have been put on the back burner for the sake of energy security."
The event, with contributions from experts from various disciplines, offered a multifaceted and critical perspective, revealing how fragile our sustainability struggles may be in the future.
