In 2015, global leaders endorsed the United Nations 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), providing a framework and setting the vision and targets for the transition to a sustainable and resilient society by 2030. Meeting the ambition set by the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development means bridging a massive financing gap of at least US$2.5 trillion a year. The scale of funding and technical support required to achieve this ambitious 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is far beyond the scope of individual governments and multilateral funding agencies. Private sector funding, capabilities and know-how need to be mobilized within the global partnership to fill this funding gap and to operationalize the policies and actions outlined in the Addis Ababa Action Agenda.

Despite a fast-growing impact investing market, with US$502 billion in assets under management as of 2019, there are still wide discrepancies in the geographical allocation of impact assets. Located in a prime location bridging east and west, Turkey is emerging as a promising entry-point for catalysing impact investing activities. Turkey’s position is particularly advantageous for impact investing as the country enjoys a relatively developed financial market while still presenting many opportunities to generate social and environmental impact to alleviate the development challenges observed in the region.

This study takes stock of the potential of the market in Turkey and identifies major stakeholders, opportunities and challenges in establishing an impact investing ecosystem in the country. The study provides a stakeholder mapping and a preliminary analysis of Turkey’s impact investing ecosystem and suggests a roadmap to enhance a growing impact investing ecosystem in the country.