This study examines the relationship between awareness of environmental problems and stock market returns in Türkiye, taking into account the potential of sustainability indices to raise environmental awareness among the public. In this context, Google search volume index data were used for the awareness of environmental problems and the relationship between these data and the returns of XUSRD, XSD25 and XSRDK indices was examined using the Fourier Toda-Yamamoto (FTY) causality test and Wavelet Coherence (WTC) analysis. In the analyses made with weekly data between 25.11.2022-31.01.2025, as a result of the FTY test, no causal relationship was generally determined between the awareness of environmental problems and the index returns, but as a result of the WTC analysis, relationships were determined in the short term, in different periods and date ranges, mostly led by awareness of environmental problems. The analysis results contribute to investors by showing that awareness of environmental problems in Türkiye can affect stock market returns over specific date ranges in the short term. In addition, the results show that the relationships driven by sustainability indices are not sufficient, providing an important inference to policymakers about the need for more effective information sharing to attract public attention in the process of increasing environmental awareness through sustainability indices.
Söker et al. (Mon,) studied this question.