The Necessity of Sustainable Energy and Consumption Policies in the Context of Exceeding Environmental Limits: An Assessment on World Environment Day, Overshoot Day and Sustainable Energy Week
The global environmental crisis is no longer just a threat to the future; it is a multidimensional reality that directly affects today’s living conditions. Problems such as climate change, biodiversity loss, water stress and air pollution are directly linked to the unbalanced relationship that human activities have established with nature. June is a symbolic time period when awareness of these problems intensifies on a global scale.
While June 5 World Environment Day aims to increase environmental awareness; World Overshoot Day strikingly reveals the extent to which the resources provided by nature have been exceeded. European Sustainable Energy Week draws attention to the environmental dimension of energy transformation.
This article aims to evaluate the relationships between environmental sustainability, energy policies and consumption habits based on these three critical days; and to reveal that the transition from awareness to action has become a necessity.
Ecological Overshoot: The Consequences of Modern Consumption Habits
World Overshoot Day is a striking indicator showing the date on which humanity has exhausted the resources that nature can renew in a year. This date, which is brought forward every year, is a reflection of the increasing environmental pressure. As of 2025, Turkey has exceeded this limit on June 18. This shows that we have exhausted our entire annual resource capacity in just the first 169 days of the year.
This excessive use of resources triggers not only environmental problems but also economic and social vulnerabilities. Declining agricultural productivity, deforestation, depletion of water resources and reduction of carbon sinks are some of the visible faces of this crisis. Energy production based on fossil fuels has become a threat not only to environmental health but also to public health and economic balances.
World Environment Day: The Need for Awareness and Repair
World Environment Day, which was launched by the United Nations in 1972, draws attention to environmental problems within the framework of a specific theme each year. The theme for 2024, “Land Restoration, Desertification and Resilience to Drought”, is particularly significant in the context of water scarcity, migration due to climate change and ecosystem destruction.
Increasing drought, groundwater withdrawal and widespread forest fires in Turkey make this theme even more significant. UNEP’s “Beat Plastic Pollution” campaign also draws attention to the effects of plastic waste and calls for global cooperation for a sustainable and clean future.
However, raising awareness is not enough. Real transformation is possible by aligning energy strategies with environmental policies, transparently managing natural resource use and adopting an ecologically based approach.
Sustainable Energy Week: An Opportunity for Transformation
European Sustainable Energy Week (EUSEW) is a platform organized annually by the European Commission and promotes sustainable energy systems. The energy sector is responsible for approximately 73% of greenhouse gas emissions worldwide. In countries like Turkey that are dependent on energy imports, this situation increases both environmental and economic vulnerabilities.
The orientation towards renewable energy offers great opportunities not only in terms of environmental protection but also in terms of energy supply security, domestic production and green employment. This transformation can be realized not only with technological developments but also with energy efficiency policies, public awareness and the active role of local governments.
Sustainable Consumption: Behavioral and Political Transformation
Sustainability should not be limited to production. If consumption habits remain wasteful, no energy model alone will be sufficient. Change is necessary at both individual and institutional levels in areas such as urbanization, transportation, building insulation and waste management.
Strategies such as circular economy, local production-consumption chains, reuse and repair culture should be supported. State policies should not only be regulatory but also guiding and encouraging. Green financing models, carbon taxes and sustainable infrastructure investments will contribute to the acceleration of this transformation.
Conclusion
June is a symbolic and critical time period when awareness of environmental problems comes to the fore. World Environment Day, Limit Overshoot Day and Sustainable Energy Week are guiding principles on how we should combat these threats, beyond environmental threats.
The fact that Turkey has exhausted its annual resource capacity in the middle of the year 2025 reveals the necessity of radical transformations not only at the individual level but also at the national and institutional level. The transition to renewable energy is the first step of this transformation. The real issue is to make both production and consumption sustainable with a holistic system change.
Today, sustainability is no longer a choice, but a vital necessity. The limits of nature have been exceeded; now it is time for humanity to redefine its own limits and live within them.
Sources
Global Footprint Network. (2025). Earth Overshoot Day – Turkey. https://www.overshootday.org
United Nations Environment Programme. (2024). World Environment Day 2025 Theme: Land Restoration. https://www.worldenvironmentday.global
European Commission. (2025). EU Sustainable Energy Week (EUSEW). https://sustainable-energy-week.ec.europa.eu
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). (2023). Sixth Assessment Report – Mitigation of Climate Change WWF Türkiye. (2023).
Türkiye’nin Ekolojik Ayak İzi Raporu (2024).
Renewables 2024 Global Status Report, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti Enerji ve Tabii Kaynaklar Bakanlığı (2024).
Enerji Dönüşüm Raporu European Environment Agency. (2023).
Sustainable Consumption and Production Indicators in Europe
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She graduated from Çankaya University Faculty of Law in 2005. In the same year, she completed her master’s degree in Constitutional Law at Çankaya University, Department of Public Law. Until 2011, she worked as an ODY-ÜDY Instructor at Vocational Training Centers affiliated with the Ministry of Transport. For approximately 15 years, she has been working as a legal expert at the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB). Initially, she was involved in Foreign Trade and International Logistics at TOBB and represented the United Nations for nearly seven years. She is currently serving as a legal expert in the SME Policies Directorate within the TOBB Department of Real Sector R&D and Implementation.
Meanwhile, she is working on completing her doctoral dissertation in Administrative Law at Gazi University, Department of Public Law-Administrative Law. After completing her thesis on TOBB, which is recognized by the Council of Higher Education (YÖK) in Turkey, she plans to publish it as a book.
Additionally, since 2023, she has been writing columns in the London section of “DÜNDAR HUKUK” and “DÜNDAR LEGAL SERVICE CONSULTANCY,” which have established themselves internationally, particularly in the field of energy and renewable energy.