Adaptation to Climate Change Barriers in the Turkish Local Context

2015-11-01
Balaban, Osman
Show full item record
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
457
views
169
downloads
Climate change is one of the greatest environmental challenges that we face today. A certain level of climate change is now unavoidable. Along with mitigation efforts to curb further global warming, we have to take actions to adapt to the changing climatic conditions. Cities are on the front lines of climate change impacts. Therefore, the role of cities in climate change adaptation has been widely acknowledged in the last two decades. There are various obstacles that prevent city governments to develop adaptation policies. While some of these obstacles are universal, some of them are context-specific. Based on the review of key policy documents and interviews with public officials, this paper focuses on analyzing the main barriers that prevent Turkish cities to develop and implement effective adaptation policies. The research results indicate that cities in Turkey face very similar barriers with their international counterparts in adaptation policymaking. Among the main barriers in the Turkish local context are lack of institutional and technical capacity as well as awareness and coordination problems among actors of climate policy. Due to such barriers, "municipal voluntarism", which mostly leads to voluntary and spontaneous actions, is the prevailing approach to climate policy development in Turkish cities. A series of reforms should be enacted by the central government to help cities overcome the barriers to climate change adaptation.
Climate change, Climate policy, Adaptation, Cities, Barriers, Turkey
https://hdl.handle.net/11511/36005
TEMA-JOURNAL OF LAND USE MOBILITY AND ENVIRONMENT
Department of City and Regional Planning, Article

Suggestions

The use of indicators to assess urban regeneration performance for climate-friendly urban development: the case of Yokohama Minato Mirai 21
Balaban, Osman (Springer, Dordrecht, 2013-01-01)
Climate change is one of the greatest challenges in the twenty-first century. Immediate actions are required to slow down climate change and address its impacts on human life and settlements. Cities can play crucial roles in this respect, as they not just contribute to causes of climate change but also are under severe threat from its impacts. Urban regeneration projects can provide opportunities to make cities more climate-friendly and less vulnerable. However, the potential role of urban regeneration in t...
The role of local governments in clima techange adaptation: achievements and barriers in the turkish case
Özdemir Eroğlu, Gülin.; Balaban, Osman; Department of Earth System Science (2019)
Global warming is manifesting visible consequences at regional and local scales. Cities are considered among major contributors of climate change while also being a victim of it. It is vital to anticipate the adverse impacts of climate change in cities and take appropriate actions to prevent or minimize the damage they may be exposed. The Mediterranean Basin, in which Turkey is located, is one of the regions with the highest vulnerability to climate change. Turkey’s First National Communication on Climate C...
HOW WILL CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACT THE PROTECTED AREA NETWORK IN TURKEY?
Erol, Dudu; Bilgin, Cemal Can; Yücel, İsmail; Department of Earth System Science (2021-6-08)
Climate Change is a critical problem which might have irrecoverable effects on nature. Due to rising GHG concentrations in the atmosphere, and consequent global warming, global biodiversity is increasingly under threat. Protected areas are the most important tools to conserve biodiversity from destruction. That is why estimating future climatic conditions in protected areas plays a critical role in the prediction of possible changes in biota and ecosystems. Climate velocity is one such measurement that esti...
Development of a climate risk assessment method for the provinces of Turkiye
Bütün Bayındır, Gülsün Duygu; Yetişkul Şenbil, Emine; Department of City and Regional Planning (2022-8-25)
Climate change is disproportionately threatening vulnerable systems and amplifying existing risks. Considering the increasing impacts of climate change, assessing climate-related risks and identifying respective critical vulnerabilities have gained vital importance in addressing climate change. This thesis aims at examining the climate risk and vulnerability levels of provinces by conducting a climate risk and vulnerability assessment at the national scale provincial level to respond to the immediate climat...
Prioritization and selection of climate change adaptation measures: a review of the literature
Dogulu, Nilay; Kentel Erdoğan, Elçin (2015-07-03)
Adaptation to climate change is key to reduce associated risks and develop climate resilient communities. Adaptation measures should be designed for both current and future impacts of climate change. Nevertheless, the inherent uncertainty in climate change and its impacts, and also the intrinsic complexity in climate change adaptation process present challenges in developing, planning, and effective implementation of appropriate adaptation strategies in many countries. Despite the improvements, it is due to...
Citation Formats
O. Balaban, “Adaptation to Climate Change Barriers in the Turkish Local Context,” TEMA-JOURNAL OF LAND USE MOBILITY AND ENVIRONMENT, pp. 7–22, 2015, Accessed: 00, 2020. [Online]. Available: https://hdl.handle.net/11511/36005.
METU IIS - Integrated Information Service open@metu.edu.tr