Türkiye’s sustainable water policies and planning initiatives as part of climate change action

Climates are formed throughout the world’s life cycle and are vital for survival. Rapid changes in these climatic balances affect the maintenance of living beings and human life negatively, both directly and indirectly. Climate change is also an important variable that affects different sectors and organizational activities. One of the critical issues affected by climate change is water. In this context, there is a need for sustainable policies that will adapt to the new challenges emerging under climate change. This study aims to scrutinize the effect of climate change on Türkiye’s water structure and resources in an effort to propose policy recommendations for long-term water management. To this end, the study examines the National Water Plan of Türkiye under traditional planning and/or management approaches (inactive, reactive, and preactive) and the proactive/interactive approach presented by Ackoff. The paper reveals that the National Water Plan of Türkiye consists of more strategies and policies with a reactive approach. Accordingly, it is recommended for Türkiye to give priority to “Proactive/Interactive” and/or “Preactive” strategies in climate change and sustainability.