1st Stakeholder Workshop was held with the participation of academicians, representatives of public institutions, private sector and NGOs, units and departments of Kocaeli Metropolitan Municipality under “Kocaeli Greenhouse Gas Inventory and Climate Change Initiative Project” carried out Kocaeli Metropolitan Municipality, funded by the Republic of Turkey and the European Union, of which contract authority is Central Finance and Contracting Unit.

The preparations for Greenhouse Gas Inventory (GGI) and Climate Change Action Plan (CCAP) under the Greenhouse Gas Inventory and Climate Change Initiative Project (KCCAP) of Kocaeli Metropolitan Municipality (KMM) continue. 1st Stakeholder Workshop of Climate Change Action Plan was held at Izmit Ramada Plaza hotel on July 5, 2018 under the project started in December 2017.

The Stakeholder Workshop under the preparation works of Greenhouse Gas Inventory and Climate Change Action Plan carried out by Kocaeli Metropolitan Municipality was held with the participation of many academics, representatives of public institutions and NGOs, units and affiliates of Kocaeli Metropolitan Municipality. “KIDEP” Stakeholder Workshop continued with presentations and meetings.

The workshop started with the opening speech of Ünal BOSTAN, Head of Environmental Protection and Control Department and continued with intensive studies. During the workshop, important evaluations were made on the necessary efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions throughout Kocaeli and make Kocaeli a more resistant city against the inevitable effects of climate change.

The workshop, started with the opening speech of Ünal BOSTAN, Head of Environmental Protection and Control Department of Kocaeli Metropolitan Municipality, attended by the representatives of district municipalities, local organizations of relevant public institutions, organized industrial zones in the region, chambers of industry and commerce in the region, large industrial enterprises and universities, especially the relevant units of Kocaeli Metropolitan Municipality.

In the workshop’s first session, Rıfat Ünal Sayman, Director of Regional  Environmental Centre REC Turkey, shared the relation between climate change and the cities, while Onur Akpulat, Project Manager of REC Turkey giving information about the point in the calculation of greenhouse gas inventories and the draft results of Kocaeli within the scope of the project. Having introduced the determination of the necessary action areas for the preparation of action plan and the action tickets to be created, Dursun Baş, Project Specialist of REC Turkey, told the instructions for the workshop on determination of action areas to be carried out as the working groups.

In the second session following the presentations and introducing the workshop instructions, the participants were divided into groups according to the relevant sectors and identified the objectives and actions aimed at reducing the greenhouse gas of Kocaeli province. The objectives and actions identified in the Buildings, Transportation, Energy, Industry and Waste/Wastewater groups were presented by the groups.

Comprehensive round-table meetings were made on the topics of water resources management, public infrastructure, buildings, energy generation and distribution, land use, forestry, biodiversity and agriculture, industry, transportation and logistics, public health, tourism, trade and socio-cultural structure. Specialists discussed recommendations on emission reduction and climate change adaptation for their respective sectors.

The Workshop aims to identify the adaptation studies, solution offers and responsibilities required for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and creation of a city construction which is more resistant to the inevitable consequences of climate change throughout Kocaeli with the participation wide range of stakeholders consisting of scientists, officially authorized representatives, representatives of NGOs, units and departments of Kocaeli Metropolitan Municipality.

The outputs of the workshop will be integrated into the Kocaeli Climate Change Action Plan and will be elaborated in the second stakeholder workshop on July 26.