Climate justice at the local level: the case of Turkey

Climate change is an issue of social justice, as it affects different social groups in the urban space differently. Yet, while formulating climate action plans, local governments often disregard the relationship between climate change and justice. By using content analysis, this article explores climate change action plans of Turkish municipalities from the perspective of climate justice. It concludes that action plans of Turkish municipalities do not consider climate change as a problem of justice despite the emerging or exacerbated inequalities in the urban space caused by climate change

Yerel iklim değişikliği politikalarında kentsel iklim adaleti : Bursa, İzmir, Karşıyaka ve Nilüfer örnekleri

İklim değişikliğinin etkileri ve politika yapım süreçlerinin doğurduğu sonuçlar, kentteki farklı toplumsal grupları ve sınıfları farklı şekillerde etkilemektedir. Bu nedenle iklim değişikliği bir kentsel adalet sorunudur. Yerel yönetimler ise iklim değişikliğinin kentsel düzeyde yol açtığı veya pekiştirdiği eşitsizliklerin hem bir parçası hem de çözümüdür. Fakat yerel yönetimler tarafından hazırlanan iklim eylem planlarında iklim ve adalet arasındaki ilişki genellikle göz ardı edilmektedir. Bu çalışmanın amacı, Türkiye’deki belediyelerin ve örneklem olarak seçilen Bursa Büyükşehir Belediyesi, İzmir Büyükşehir Belediyesi, Nilüfer Belediyesi ve Karşıyaka Belediyesi’nin hazırladığı iklim eylem planlarını ve eylem planlarının yapım sürecini, kentsel iklim adaletini oluşturan unsurlarla birlikte değerlendirmektir.--------------------The consequences of climate change and the policy-making processes affect different social groups and classes in different ways in the urban areas. For this reason, climate change is an issue of urban climate justice. Therefore local governments are both a part and a solution to the inequalities that climate change has led or exacerbated at the local level. However local governments often neglect the relationship between climate change and justice in their climate action plans. The aim of this study is to assess sustainable energy and climate change action plans of the municipalities in Turkey and the selected municipalities, which are Bursa Metropolitan Municipality, Izmir Metropolitan Municipality, Nilüfer Municipality, and Karşıyaka Municipality, with the elements of urban climate justice

A policy content analysis for evaluating urban adaptation justice in İstanbul

Climate change is disproportionately affecting vulnerable communities, increasing existing risks and leading to further global inequalities. Drawing on the concept of urban adaptation justice, we evaluated the inclusion of vulnerable communities in the climate change adaptation planning process of İstanbul, a European coastal megacity with considerable vulnerability to climate change. For this, a policy content analysis structured around four criteria: (i) participation, (ii) capacity enhancement, (iii) governance, and (iv) justice integration into spatial planning, was carried out and supplemented by local expert consultations. Our findings indicate that while the objective of incorporating some aspects of justice in adaptation planning was recognized, there was a distinct lack of specific actions or evaluation tools. The expert consultations largely confirmed these findings, which were then connected to the socio-historical and political context of İstanbul and the wider Turkish region. Key conclusions include the failure of current adaptation policies to adequately consider vulnerabilities arising from a combination of urban marginalization interacting with neoliberal authoritarianism. We identify the need for understanding and integrating equitable climate change adaptation as a key dimension of urban decision-making for future policy-relevant research and practice