Sustainable development and sustainable banking practices in the Europen Union and in Turkey

ABSTRACT SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AND SUSTAINABLE BANKING PRACTICES IN THE EUROPEN UNION AND IN TURKEY KILIÇ, Zehra M.A. Thesis, Department of Economy Administration Supervisor: Assist. Prof. Dr. Ayşen ALTUN ADA July, 2014, 130 pages Sustainable development refers to the ability of resolving their own needs of today's generation. Without jeopardizing the ability of resolving the needs of the future generations. The basis of the concept is human. It refers to the conscious use of natural resources by establishing a balance between man and nature, In the process of sustainable development, firstly to the states then to the companies, civil society organizations and to the consumers have important missions. However, awareness about environmental and social issues in the banking sector have advenced later when compared with other sectors. After the 1990s, the concept of sustainable development has been included among the activities of financial institutions. Sustainable banking, means that the financial products and services of the banks are designed in a style of supporting the sustainable development. Nowadays, it has been seen that sustainable banking mentality is adopted by many financial institutions especially in the countries of the European Union. In Turkey, reasons which prevent development of sustainable banking mentality are inadequacy of legal regulations, instability of sustainable development policies, the continuous change of the political structure, inadequacy of knowledge of financal institutions related with sustainable finance and insufficient awareness of the community for sustainable development have been noticed. In this study, they have been examined that the contributions to sustainable development of the banks operate in Turkey and in the European Union, which methods the banks use to support to sustainable development and banks success in achieving their goals. In this direction, while researching sustainable development concept and in the past to the present phases of concept, it has been revealed that banks in Turkey and in the European Union contribution to sustainable development. As a result of study, it has been seen that the banks in Turkey fall behind as the numbers than the banks in the European Union in the matter of sustainable banking. However, in recent years, it can be said that the banking sector's contributions increased to sustainable development with the increase of ethic conscious of customers and banks. Key Words: Sustainable Development, Sustainability in Banking, European Union, Turkey.