Karatay to Receive Gap Fund Support Following Strong Collaboration with GCoM–Gap Fund Partnership

The City of Karatay in Türkiye is taking a major step toward a low-carbon, climate-resilient future. On 29 July 2025, the City Climate Finance Gap Fund (Gap Fund) officially approved Karatay’s Expression of Interest (EOI) for the project Innovative Energy Efficiency Solutions in Karatay. The project will receive technical assistance to transform its early-stage ideas into bankable solutions that address local climate challenges.

The planned support includes detailed building assessments to identify the potential for solar PV and energy efficiency upgrades, financial modelling to help secure funding, and technical designs for cost-effective installations. In addition, the city will receive guidance to develop a stakeholder engagement strategy, ensuring participation from municipality officials, residents, energy companies, and other relevant parties throughout the project, fostering local ownership and effective implementation.

This milestone was made possible thanks to the close collaboration between the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy (GCoM)–Gap Fund Partnership and the EU for Energy Transition in Türkiye (EU4ETT) project, which worked to strengthen city capacity through a series of trainings and outreach activities. The strong endorsement from the Ministry of Education also played a key role in backing the city’s application.

By connecting the dots between local ambition, national support, and international climate finance, the GCoM–Gap Fund Partnership helped Karatay prepare a strong and strategic EOI. With this approval, Karatay moves one step closer to turning its energy transition vision into a reality.

“We’re proud to celebrate Karatay Municipality, a committed member of the MLGP4Climate platform, for successfully securing technical assistance from the GAP Fund to implement a forward-looking pilot project. The support from the GCoM–Gap Fund team was essential in shaping Karatay’s proposal into a feasible, practical plan that met the Gap Fund’s eligibility criteria. This strong collaboration truly benefited the city, aligning local ambition with climate finance readiness.”

— Daiva Matonienė, Former Project Team Leader in Türkiye, EU4 Energy Transition: Covenant of Mayors in Western Balkans and Türkiye project