Green entrepreneurship as a driving force for the green economy: A case study on green entrepreneurship in Istanbul

Abstract

Environment and economy are an inseparable whole with very strong ties. The environment and economy, which are in constant interaction with each other, are also affected by each other for good or bad. Intensive production and consumption activities and the economic structure that continues its continuous growth in an uncontrolled and unsustainable way affect the environment negatively, trigger climate change and cause the depletion of natural resources. An unhealthy, poor quality and problematic environment, which is formed as a result of the economic structure developing insensitive to the environment, also negatively affects the economic structure in the following processes. For example; it is estimated that about 150 billion dollars of loss in today's economy is indirectly caused by climate change, and 65 billion dollars is directly caused by climate change. The environment and the economy, which are in constant cyclical communication with each other, must act together and support each other rather than affecting each other negatively for a sustainable world life. Increasing industrialization and economic activities with the First Industrial Revolution put great pressure on the environment, and this situation continued to increase in the Second Industrial Revolution and has survived to the present day. Today, while developed countries can cope with environmental problems stemming from economic activities due to their advanced technologies and reaching a certain economic situation, underdeveloped and developing countries cannot achieve this and cannot prevent environmental problems. Agreements made between many countries around the world fail in most countries due to the fact that these agreements remain in theory and cannot be put into practice, and global problems such as global warming and climate change cannot be prevented. All these environmental problems stem from the fact that economic actors see the environment as a free good and want to make all goods cheap. In today's economic system, which acts without considering the protection, quality and integrity of the environment, a continuous economic growth is aimed and growth targets that are far from sustainability are set, but it should not be forgotten that the environment is the enabler of economic growth and the damage to the environment as a result of excessive growth will also collapse the economy. In order to prevent these bad scenarios, new and sustainable environmental economic systems and policies such as green economy, sustainable economy, steady state economy, low carbon economy should be adopted. Among these new environmentalist economic models, the one that has become the most widespread today and is started to be implemented by some developed countries is the green economy. Economic structure is an element that affects the quality of life. Not being paid for the labor in return for intensive and long working hours, economic differences between different segments of the society, environmental pollution caused by the uncontrolled production and consumption and the depletion of natural resources as a result are the consequences of the absence of a sustainable and green economic system. The green economy, which has started to be adopted in many developed countries of the world, makes cities more livable and sustainable by bringing an alternative to today's dominant economic model, which increases inequalities, encourages waste, triggers resource shortages and creates widespread threats to the environment and human health. The green economy is the channeling of employment and income growth, public and private investment into economic activities, infrastructure and assets to reduce carbon emissions and pollution, increase energy and resource efficiency, and prevent the loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services. It is a low-carbon, resource-efficient and socially inclusive economic model. The green economy aims to achieve clean transportation, more efficient and cleaner energy production, better water use and management, greener buildings, clean and efficient waste management, and improved land use through sustainable agriculture and forestry. Entrepreneurship activities, which are the providers of economic growth, tend to be environment-oriented and produce environmentally compatible goods and services in accordance with the expectations of the society today. In this direction, green entrepreneurship, which makes a great contribution to the creation of a green economy environment, aims to do green jobs and harmonize the economy and the environment in order to protect the environment and ensure its sustainability. Just as entrepreneurship contributes to the growth and development of the economy, green entrepreneurship contributes to the development of the green economy. In order for a business to be considered within the scope of green entrepreneurship, it should support sustainable development, contribute to sustainable production, meet its energy needs from renewable resources, should not cause environmental pollution and should not harm ecosystem diversity. The basis of green entrepreneurship activities is social responsibility and awareness and growth in a clean and environment-friendly direction. In the principles, policies and practices of green entrepreneurs, the aim of increasing the quality of life of their customers, employees, society and the environment is in the first place. The main difference that distinguishes the green entrepreneur from the classical entrepreneur is the environmental protection target that they put at the core of their business and activities. Green entrepreneurs are people who seek and find innovative solutions in the production and consumption of goods and services while taking into account social, environmental and economic factors. Green entrepreneurship requires awareness of environmental problems, and technical knowledge in relevant fields, and legislation and market knowledge. Green entrepreneurs are people who establish a business in a sector with the aim of ensuring sustainability and protecting the environment and providing the green transformation of that sector. Green entrepreneurs create green jobs, green products and green technologies for strengthening and growing the green economy. Green entrepreneurship, which is an important potential for an ecological society and a sustainable world, will initiate the creative destruction process, trigger socioeconomic transformation, and enable us to reach healthier environments with a clean and sustainable consumption approach. Today, intensive consumption and production activities, and fast and uncontrolled growing economy cause many problems, especially in metropolitan areas where population and economic activities are intense. Adopting sustainable economic systems such as green economy can be a solution in order to prevent these negativities in metropolitan areas. In addition, adopting green entrepreneurship activities will contribute to the development of this new sustainable and environmentally friendly economic system. Today, developed, developing and underdeveloped countries and the situations of metropolitan areas in these countries and the behaviors of green economy and green entrepreneurship activities in these metropolitan areas are different. While processes related to green economy and green entrepreneurship are managed more successfully and systematically in developed countries, the same is not true for underdeveloped or developing countries such as Turkey. Although the concepts of green economy and green entrepreneurship have been on the agenda for a long time in the world, they are concepts that have just begun to be discussed in Turkey, and applications for these concepts are most common in Istanbul, the country's most developed metropolitan area. Within the scope of this study, first of all, the concepts of green economy and green entrepreneurship are discussed in detail and examples of good practices from the world are presented. The aim of the study in the first stage is to make a general assessment of the green economic situation and green entrepreneurship ecosystem in Turkey and Istanbul, to determine the current situation and to reveal the problems and potentials related to the subject. After making evaluations about green entrepreneurship and green economy in Turkey and Istanbul, the empirical study carried out by conducting in-depth interviews with the founders of 22 green enterprises in Istanbul, which is the case study area, is presented. The purpose of the study in the second stage is to analyze the current situation of the green entrepreneur and green enterprise profile in Istanbul and to determine the reasons for green entrepreneurs' motivations behind their work and what is the driving force to do this business, how the economic performance of green enterprises in Istanbul change, impact of green enterprises on their environment, their goals, their potentials, the challenges they face and what are the predictions and expectations about the future of green entrepreneurship. This study constitutes a roadmap for policy makers by revealing the potentials and what needs to be done for the development of green economy and green entrepreneurship in Turkey and Istanbul. In the last part of the thesis, after a general assessment of the current situation, suggestions are made for the development of the concepts of green economy and green entrepreneurship. The creation of policies and projects that will develop the green economy, the creation of new mechanisms to support green entrepreneurship will contribute to the formation of a green economic order in Istanbul and Turkey and will also develop the green entrepreneurship ecosystem. Green entrepreneurship has the potential to be an important trigger of the green economy, and the right decisions to be made, the right steps to be taken, the right policies to be implemented and innovative incentives will enable the green economic order to be realized by growing and developing the green entrepreneurship ecosystem both in Turkey and in Istanbul.