City of Gaziantep unveils climate change action plan

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) said it is supporting the southeastern Turkish city of Gaziantep in an ambitious set of policies to tackle climate change by cutting emissions by 20% by 2023. The plan for dramatic improvement in the environment is laid out in a comprehensive document launched by deputy mayor Latif Kaaradağ and the financing institution to strengthen the city’s climate resilience over the course of the next seven years, the bank said.

The action plan will strengthen the city’s climate resilience over the course of the next seven years.

The action plan developed with EBRD builds on a previous set of climate change policies prepared by the municipal government in 2011. Gaziantep was the first city in Turkey to develop such a document. Similar plans have previously been drawn up by the world’s largest cities such as London, Paris, New York, Mexico, Sydney and Tokyo.

According to the EBRD-backed plan developed with funds from the European Union, the sectors responsible for the most greenhouse gas emissions are industry, transport, agriculture and housing. To cut emissions, the city will work with businesses to promote energy efficiency measures as well as the use of renewable energy technologies for electricity generation, heating and cooling. It will also seek to introduce more environmentally friendly transport solutions, such as expanding the number of compressed natural gas (CNG) buses and phasing out old vehicles. The climate change action plan also proposes measures to help agriculture become more sustainable through the use of waste-to-energy technologies and geographic information systems, as well as to reforest certain areas in order to trap CO₂ emissions. Furthermore, the city will promote a shift from coal to alternative fuels such as natural gas in the residential and municipal sectors, collective low-carbon heating and cooling systems, energy-saving lighting in buildings, smarter solid waste management and improvements in water supply and water treatment, the EBRD said.