2nd Work Group Meeting within the framework of the “Project on Greenhouse Gas inventory and Climate Change Action Plan in Kocaeli” carried out by Kocaeli Metropolitan Municipality, funded by the Republic of Turkey and the European Union, and of which contract authority is Central Finance and Contracting Unit, was held with the participation of the representatives of local authorities.

The 2nd Work Group meeting on the preparation of the greenhouse gas inventory report and climate change action plan within the scope of the research activity of the project was held on Wednesday, March 21, 2018 at the Ramada Plaza in Izmit. The 2nd Work Group meeting was aimed to share the experiences obtained from the studies carried out during the preparation of Greenhouse Gas Inventory (GGI) of Kocaeli and to explain the information gathered and data to be requested for GGI to the representatives of the key institutions in the city.

The meeting, which was hosted by the Branch of the Directorate of Environmental Protection and Control Department and attained by the representatives of Kocaeli Regional Directorate of Turkish Statistical Institute, Provincial Directorate of the Ministry of Environment and Urbanisation, Kocaeli University, Gebze Technical University, Kocaeli City Council, Provincial Directorate of the Ministry of Science, Industry and Technology, Kocaeli Chamber of Environmental Engineers, was started with the opening speech of Mesut Önem, Branch Manager of Kocaeli Metropolitan Municipality Environmental Protection. During his speech, Branch Manager Mesut Önem informed the participants about the project. Then, Turkey Team of Regional Envionmental Center made presentations.

In the first presentation, REC Turkey Project Manager Onur Akpulat shared the information obtained from the visit to Barcelone between 12-14 February 2018 and examples of good practice from the field with the participants. In the second presentation, REC Turkey Specialist Gözde Odabaş shared her acquirements and experiences obtained from the domestic studies and site visits to Bursa, Istanbul and Gaziantep Metropolitan Municipalities held between the dates of 13-16 March 2018, which were the pioneers in preparing CCAP. Following the acquirements obtained from the Studies and Technical Site Visits, REC Turkey Specialist Dursun Baş informed the participants about the data collection methods and tools to be used, while the difficulties that may be encountered in collecting data in the case of Kocaeli, the data obtained in the current stage and the data deficiencies were discussed.

During the evaluation and closing session after the presentations, important issues for the collection of the necessary data for the GGI and the coordination of the process were elaborated and planning was made for the ongoing activities of the project. Information accessed by REC Turkey was summarized and the categories of the information in GGI preparation tool were explained to the participants. In this context, the topics which may be supported by the representatives from different institutions in this process was learned, the work plan regarding the data required for the inventory was discussed and feedback was received.