About 500 billion dollars needed to quakeproof buildings in Turkey, World Bank estimates

Duvar English

The World Bank’s Turkey director Humberto Lopez on Nov. 22 said that Turkey would need to spend around 500 billion dollars to quakeproof all its existing buildings and 100 billion dollars to rebuild the damages of the Feb. 6 earthquakes during the 9th Sustainable Finance Forum in Istanbul.

Lopez stated that the cost to rebuild all demolished buildings corresponded to more than 10% of Turkey’s gross national product (GNP), which was “a considerable sum.”

Lopez also drew attention to the fact that Turkey needed to adapt to the intensifying climate crisis. “The extreme weather conditions experienced in Turkey rose to over 1000 in the recent years. 20 years ago, this value was 200,” he stated. Such an adaptation process would cost over 600 billion dollars, according to Director Lopez. 

The World Bank officer indicated that the total cost of rebuilding the demolished buildings during the earthquake, quakeproofing all buildings, and the climate crisis adaptation process would surpass one trillion dollars, the entire GNP of Turkey. 

Lopez suggested that these projects were beyond the capabilities of the World Bank, as the sum of all the loans the World Bank grants to countries is 168 billion dollars. 

In June, the institution approved a one billion dollar package to help restore rural homes and essential public services to people in the Feb. 6 earthquake-hit areas.