Speaker
Description
The accelerating pressure of climate change on human settlements and the environment imposes a responsibility on central and local governments to take action (Kuyper, Schroeder and Linnér, 2018). Local governments’ commitment to international agreements and transnational city networks necessitates the preparation of climate action plans (Arı and Aydın, 2019; C40 Knowledge Community, no date; United Nations, 2017). However, most municipalities, both internationally and in Türkiye, address these processes solely in terms of emission reduction, overlooking the social inequality issues arising from climate change (Jiang et al., 2024).
This study examines how the theme of justice is incorporated into the climate action plans of metropolitan and district municipalities. A total of 21 plans from municipalities of different scales, including 13 metropolitan and 8 metropolitan district municipalities, were analyzed. In all the plans, key terms and concepts related to climate justice and associated topics were examined using a word frequency analysis method. The concepts identified from the literature were grouped into subcategories based on the sections of the climate action plans. These categories were defined as “impact and risk analysis,” “identification of vulnerabilities,” “accessibility to and distribution of resources,” and “measures and actions for protection and risk reduction.”
Subsequently, using the thematic document analysis method, the content of the plans, their approaches, and the policies and actions they contained were analyzed in the context of justice. The study’s notable findings include differences in approaches between metropolitan municipalities and district municipalities. While metropolitan municipalities examine risks and vulnerabilities on a broader scale, district municipalities focus more on environmental and urban health issues at the neighborhood scale. In some municipalities, adaptation strategies for vulnerable groups were highlighted, but many plans lacked comprehensive justice-based policies and offered limited inclusion of disadvantaged groups in decision-making processes. The results demonstrate significant gaps in incorporating equitable measures into climate action plans. More inclusive and actionable strategies are needed to combat climate change effectively.
The two-stage analysis conducted in the study was chosen to enhance the reliability and accountability of the research. It provides a perspective on justice-oriented climate action planning in national and international literature. It emphasizes the importance of justice discussions as a cornerstone in climate action plans, particularly in Türkiye, where many plans remain incomplete. It is believed that future studies could strengthen climate action planning in Türkiye by increasing the number of analyzed plans and examining justice perspectives through detailed methodologies from international case studies.
References
Arı, İ. and Aydın, L. (2019) 'Türkiye’de yerel i̇klim değişikliği eylem planlarının hazırlanması ve etkin uygulanması için öneriler,' Iğdır Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi, Ek sayı. https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/pub/igdirsosbilder/issue/66827/1045212#article_cite.
C40 Knowledge Community (no date). https://www.c40knowledgehub.org/s/guide-navigation?language=en_US&guideArticleRecordId=a3s1Q000001iaiBQAQ&guideRecordId=a3t1Q0000007lEWQAY.
Jiang, T. et al. (2024) 'COP 28: Challenge of coping with climate crisis,' The Innovation, 5(1), p. 100559. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.xinn.2023.100559.
Kuyper, J., Schroeder, H. and Linnér, B.-O. (2018) 'The evolution of the UNFCCC,' Annual Review of Environment and Resources, 43(1), pp. 343–368. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-environ-102017-030119.
United Nations, 2017. New Urban Agenda. [online] Available at: https://habitat3.org/wp-content/uploads/NUA-English.pdf [Accessed 12 January 2025].
| Keywords | Climate Change;Justice; Climate Action Plans; Frequency Analysis |
|---|---|
| Best Congress Paper Award | Yes |
