Abstract
Turkey has been one of the earliest participants of the international climate policy process, since the Ministerial Conference on Atmospheric Pollution and Climate Change held in 1989. The country has prepared strategy documents, actions plans, sectoral policies, and projects to detect and adapt climate change effects. However, any of this has not turned into a main plan to support climate change mitigation on an international scale. The purpose of this paper is to identify local climate change mitigation strategies of Sakarya city, Turkey, by strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) analysis. For this purpose, relevant information were gathered from Covenant of Mayors, greenhouse gas inventories of the city, National Energy Efficiency Action Plan, online workshop with 44 local stakeholders from private sector and local universities held on 13.10.2020. The results emphasized the importance of the cross-link between local adaptation and mitigation in terms of energy demand and energy-based emissions on national and international scale.
1. Introduction
The last decade has seen a critical level of global warming between 0.8 and 1.2 degrees Celsius representing alarming anthropogenic degradation of climate system [1]. The Paris Agreement aims to limit this warming well below 2 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels and to avoid dangerous degradation levels [2]. Recent climate change mitigation studies support that the world must commit to a rapid decarbonisation agenda to reach the goal of Paris Agreement [3–7].
Burning fossil fuel resources for electricity and heat is the main driver of climate change [8, 9]. The records indicate that emissions from these sectors have reached to a historic value, 33.1 Gt CO2eq in 2019 [10]. However, the latest data show that global energy-based CO2 emissions dropped dramatically in the first quarter of 2020, due to the declines in global energy demand by the pandemic recession in global economic activity and mobility. It is estimated that the lowest value since 2010 will be recorded by the end of 2020, 30.6 Gt, almost 8% lower than the historic value in 2019 [11]. In this context, structural decline in emissions must be at the heart of political agenda to avoid a rebound as the world comes out the pandemic recession.
Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threat (SWOT) analysis is one of the key tools used to plan local and national sustainable development plans. There are many studies using SWOT analysis technique in strategic planning processes. Terrados et al. prepared a SWOT matrix for energy sector of Jaen province of Spain to support the strategic planning process. The results of the study indicate that the SWOT tool can be successfully used in energy planning by supporting the elaboration of the current local energy situation and interdisciplinary coherence. The paper also concludes that studies on regional energy planning with respect to the national development plans make a significant contribution to achieve the sustainability goals at local level [12]. Markovska et al. conducted a SWOT analysis to contribute the sustainable development of Macedonia by presenting the energy situation of the country and proposing future actions from the perspective of sectoral stakeholders. The study recommends valuable sustainability actions in a wide scope and emphasises that the key to build a successful energy plan is interdisciplinary coherence and international cooperation [13]. Chen et al. used SWOT analysis technique to discuss national renewable energy policies of Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan. The results of the study indicate that additional installed renewable capacity and an effective cooperation framework are urgent for these countries to compete in the global energy market [14]. Kamran et al. performed a SWOT analysis to present a possible roadmap for a more secure and sustainable energy sector in Pakistan. The study presents valuable recommendations to the policy makers and stakeholders highlighting the potential and the status of wind energy, solar energy, bioenergy, hydro power, and geothermal energy [15].
Sakarya is a city in Turkey located in the Marmara Region with coordinates 40° 41 50 N 30° 27 24 E. The city encompasses a total area of 4.823 square kilometers, an area which had a population of 1,029,650 in 2019 and a population density of 211 inhabitants per square kilometer. The population of the city increased by 18.7% in 2019 and continues to increase due to labor demands in rapidly growing industry sector [16]. Agriculture and industry have an important role in the city’s economy. The share of agriculture and industry sectors in employed population of the city was reported 17% and 24%, respectively. Besides, the city is listed as one of the developing cities of Turkey with 1.6% share in the country’s gross domestic product [17].
In 2018, Sakarya Metropolitan Municipality (SMM) entered into The Covenant of Mayors which was launched by European Union to achieve the climate change targets at local level. In this context, the city has set a climate change goal to reduce CO2 emissions of the city by at least 40% by 2030 compared to the reference year of 2018. For this purpose, Baseline Emission Inventory (BEI) for 2017 was calculated by the International Council on Local Initiatives (ICLEI) within the International Local Government Greenhouse Gas Emissions Analysis Protocol (IEAP). According to BEI 2017, total greenhouse emissions of the city were 4.91 tCO2eq per capita, lower than the country’s carbon emissions per capita which was recorded 6.6 tCO2eq in 2017. However, the city is one of the developing city of Turkey, and it is likely to observe a significant increase in emissions per capita unless mitigation measures are taken [18].
This paper presents a descriptive overview of the current status and future roadmap of Sakarya city at climate change combat by conducting a SWOT analysis with respect to local development plans, national development plans, and the perspective of local stakeholders. The literature has a number of papers discussing drivers and barriers for accelerating clean energy transition to achieve climate change targets. However, this paper contributes to the current literature by offering a reference guide to build a more resilient and sustainable future for investors, authorised bodies, researchers, and consumers from different sectors at local level.
The paper is organized as follows. Section 2 presents the methodology and the SWOT analysis matrix. The results of the proposed methodology are explained in Section 3. In Section 4, the importance of prioritizing local adaptation to achieve climate change targets is discussed. Finally, Section 5 gives the conclusions and the proposed local climate policy change cycle.
2. Materials and Methods
In this paper, the SWOT analysis technique was used to analyse the energy based greenhouse gas emissions in Sakarya city, Turkey, and to develop local action plans for reducing local emissions and contributing the national climate change targets. The strengths, the weaknesses, the opportunities, and the threats were identified by gathering the main points of Covenant of Mayors, greenhouse gas inventories of Sakarya city, climate change targets of National Energy Efficiency Action Plan, and outcomes of an online workshop with local stakeholders held on 13.10.2020. The workshop provided different opinions from 44 participants from city universities, local governmental agencies, and local nongovernmental organizations. Mitigation activities and priority levels to be implemented within a sustainable energy action plan for the city were determined within the scope of the following working groups: buildings and industry, transportation, and renewable energy (Table 1).
3. Results
3.1. Transportation
Sakarya Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory 2019 indicated that transportation sector is responsible for 27.5% of total emissions of the city with an energy consumption record 4,867,923 MWh. Growth rates of greenhouse gas emissions by transportation units were recorded 1% by municipal diesel fuelled vehicle fleet, 2% by municipal electric vehicle fleet, 3% public transport diesel fuelled vehicle fleet, 3% public transport electric vehicle fleet, 1.5% private diesel fuelled vehicles, 1% private diesel fuelled logistical vehicles, 1% private gasoline powered vehicles, and 1% private LPG vehicles (Figure 1). Although diesel fuel demand of the city decreased from 2017 to 2019, transportation shares, 1,5 million tCO2eq, are still the second in total emissions in parallel with the growth rates of urbanization and industry. SMM aims to decrease transportation based emissions to 369,288 tCO2eq by 2030 within Covenant of Mayors.
Republic of Turkey Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources announced the urgent transportation sector actions as follows [19]: (i)Energy Efficient Vehicle Incentives. Low taxation for low emission vehicles, raising social awareness for electric and hybrid vehicles(ii)Comparative analysis of alternative fuel resources and new technologies(iii)Improving Pedestrian and Bike Transport. Building new pedestrian and bike paths integrated with public transport nationwide(iv)Reducing Traffic Congestion in Cities. Measures to deter entry into city centers, parking lot cautions, dissemination of smart transportation system applications(v)Expanding public transportation
This paper proposes urgent local transport action plans for Sakarya city in Table 2 on the basis of SWOT analysis results in Table 1.
Main transport plan of Sakarya city was put into practice in 2011. The city has experienced rapid growth in urbanization, industry, and traffic density since then. Therefore, it is urgent to put action plan 1 in place in parallel with zoning plans of the city. The owner and implementer of this plan are SMM, and the key for the success here is to increase the number of experienced staff in the field.
Public transportation utilization rate of Sakarya city was recorded 9% in 2019. The target of action plan 2 is to increase this rate to a minimum record 35% by 2024. The priority actions within this plan are to optimize public transportation routes, to establish new public transport lines for urban transformation areas, to increase the number of public buses, to transfer new technologies, and to build a rail system. The number of private transportation vehicles in the city is more than the number of public transportation vehicles-1050 private buses, 632 private minibuses, and 362 taxis [20]. The very low public utilization rate, 9%, indicates that local people mostly prefer private transportation vehicles. The results of the workshop indicate that private transportation vehicles provide time savings in comparison with public transport modes. Action plan 2 proposes to improve public transportation with new public transit modes and reduce at least 50 MtCO2eq of transportation based emissions.
Current technologies entering the transit industry offer great improvements in fuel economy of vehicles. Action plan 3 targets to achieve considerable reductions in fleet fuel consumption by changing fleet buses and minibuses with new, more efficient vehicles in the short term, and hybrid-electric vehicles in the medium term. It is expected to save 1,157 tCO2eq and 42,716 tCO2eq transportation-based emissions by low carbon transportation fleets in the short term and by hybrid-electric transportation fleets in the medium term, respectively.
It is a fact that switching from conventional polluting vehicles to electric powered vehicles is a near future trend driven primarily by growing concerns about climate change. However, the transformation is likely to be time consuming and uncertain in locations where charging process is more difficult. In Sakarya city, fast-charging stations has just emerged in some locations like shopping malls, hotels, and highway side facilities. Action plan 4 targets to support infrastructure studies to extend electric vehicle transformation in the city.
The success of all the action plans above is depended on public awareness and acceptance. Activities to improve the social infrastructure and to develop and/or transform transportation modes are vital for green mobility. Safe and economic trainings are a powerful social infrastructure tool of transportation to reduce transport based emissions. Action plan 8 targets to train all drivers in the city and in particular drivers of public transportation modes. Current researches indicate that efficient driving behaviours can reduce use of fossil fuels by 5% and 10% for moderate driving styles and by almost 20% for aggressive driving styles [21]. Training passengers and pedestrians is also a powerful tool to extend public transportation modes; bike transport and pedestrian transport. Action plan 9 targets to organize training activities at schools for raising social awareness of young people of the society and to organize bike events to encourage local people to cycling.
Sakarya city has a favourable topological structure for cycling. The municipal corporation developed a bicycle share system called SAKBIS which provides 110 bikes and 15 stations in different locations of the city. The results of the workshop utilized in this paper indicate that the application received public acceptance and reached over 120 thousand accesses [20]. Action plan 5 targets to stimulate cycling and discouraging the use of private cars. Building new cycle ways, bike stands, and bike stations is the prior action, since cycling is one of the developing transport modes of the city. One of the key outcomes of the workshop is that many local people’s perceptions of road safety acts a significant barrier to cycling. Therefore, the next action must be establishment of new bike friendly traffic regulations in the city. Besides, integration of SAKBIS with the other public transport modes is also an urgent action to discourage the use of private cars.
Walking is the oldest transportation mode and the primary for some people [22]. However, there are significant barriers to pedestrian travel like the lack of access to sideways, lack of regulations on pedestrian safety, disintegration of sideways to the other public transport modes, and disinterest in walking [23]. Action plan 6 presents urgent local actions to increase pedestrian travel in Sakarya city. Building sideways and integrating sideways with the other public transport modes and traffic calming are listed as the actions to improve the physical infrastructure. On the social infrastructure side, conveying health and environmental messages to demonstrate that walking brings health benefits for all people and environmental benefits in all locations can help to raise social awareness.
Vehicle sharing is an emerging transportation system reducing fossil fuel uses, increasing safety, and reducing operating costs [24, 25]. In Sakarya city, only bicycle sharing system, SAKBIS, has been effectively operated. Action plan 7 targets to increase vehicle station facilities, vehicle fleet size, and customer demands in the city in parallel with action plan 4 and action plan 5. Investigating management models to meet current and future mobility needs and cooperation with private enterprises to build flexible services and public encouragement determined the key actions to increase low and/or zero carbon vehicle sharing systems. However, achieving the targets of action plan 7 is depended on the progress of action plan 4 and action plan 5. It is expected to save almost 43,899 tCO2eq transportation based emissions, if action plans 4-7 are successfully and urgently put into practice.
Figure 2 indicates greenhouse gas emissions by transportation sector of reference year 2017 and 2030. From the figure, it can be concluded that transportation action plans proposed within SWOT analysis in Table 1 promise to decrease sector-based emissions by 27% compared to 2017 and by 26% compared to 2030 business as usual (BAU) scenario.
3.2. Buildings
Sakarya Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory 2019 indicates that the largest contribution comes from building sector, 57.5% of total emissions of the city. The largest share of emissions by the sector came from industrial buildings to a record 27%. Residential buildings and commercial buildings were responsible for 19.9% and 9.6% of total emissions by the sector. Building outdoor lighting systems and municipal buildings followed industry, residential buildings, and commercial buildings with smallest shares of 0.7% and 0.3%, respectively (Figure 3). Building-based emissions increased from 1,372,910 tCO2eq in 2017 to 1,419,701 tCO2eq in 2019. One of the sustainable development targets of the city is to decrease these emissions by at least 450,319 tCO2eq by 2030.
In Sakarya city, there are 13 small industry zones and 6 organized industrial zones with a total area of 772 hectares. Besides, new organized industrial zones in Karasu, Ferizli, Kaynarca, and Akyazı towns are in the construction phase. Industry-based emissions of the city are recorded 1,254,061 tCO2eq in 2019 [26]. It is expected to record larger emissions in the following years, since the sector has been experiencing a rapid growth.
This paper proposes urgent action plans regarding local buildings and industry for Sakarya city in Table 3 on the basis SWOT analysis results in Table 1.
In Sakarya city, the largest share of residential building-based emissions came from fossil fuel use for heating-65% of building-based emissions and 20% of total emissions. Heating-based energy demands of the city are larger than cooling energy demands due to climate conditions of the city. Therefore, thermal insulation is a key factor to make a significant difference in the city’s emissions by heating and cooling. Action plan 1 proposes that thermal insulation for all buildings would reduce 533,186 MWh of heating and cooling-based energy demands and 121,112 tCO2eq of emissions by 2030. Natural gas is the primary heating energy source of residential buildings in the city. With action plan 1, it is proposed to complete natural gas transformation in all residential buildings in the city. It is estimated that 14.876 tCO2eq of building-based emissions would be saved by coal to natural gas transformation. Another recommendation from action plan 1 is to renovate lighting systems of residential buildings. Energy efficient new lighting systems would provide 18,005 MWh energy savings and 9,254 tCO2eq emission savings by 2030. However, action plan 1 underlines that social awareness is vital to succeed expected savings within urgent actions recommended. It is likely to make additional 77,163 MWh energy savings and 39,662 tCO2eq emission savings by 2030 with an increased social responsibility. Therefore, activities to raise the awareness of local people must be within the scope of action plan 1 to reduce carbon foot print by residential buildings.
Nonresidential buildings, commercial buildings, and industrial buildings were responsible for 35% of the city’s total building based emissions. Action plan 2 presents key recommendations within thermal insulation, renovation of lighting systems, and social awareness to reduce total emissions by commercial buildings. Although cooling has a larger share in energy demands of non-residential buildings, thermal insulation would still provide 142,911 MWh energy savings and 30,689 tCO2eq emission savings. However, energy efficient lighting systems would make a significant change in total emissions of commercial buildings and industrial buildings by 161,671 tCO2eq savings. Previous studies held in Sakarya city prove that more than 40% lighting energy saving is possible just using a daylight controlled lighting automation system in such buildings [27, 28]. Social responsibility is also vital in this sector with a potential of 94,360 MWh energy savings and 57,689 tCO2eq emission savings in addition to the savings by thermal insulation and energy efficient lighting energy systems.
Sakarya city lies down on the North Anatolian Fault System. Many earthquakes occurred in the last two millennia along the city and surrounding area [29]. Therefore, the priority of all buildings in the region is to withstand earthquakes [30]. Action plan 3 targets to integrate energy efficiency applications with design and construction stages of buildings which do not comply with earthquake regulations. Urban transformation plans with respect to clean energy solutions would contribute to build a more sustainable city in terms of energy access and climate change.
Sakarya Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory 2017 indicates that municipal buildings are responsible for 19,289 tCO2eq of total emissions of the city. Although actions to reduce emissions by municipal buildings do not promise significant savings, a potential of 3,906 tCO2eq, action plan 4 presents that actions by authorities would encourage local community and support the previous recommendations to build social responsibility. Therefore, it is suggested to put place in urgent actions of thermal insulation, energy efficient lighting systems, and social awareness activities to succeed action plan 1 and action plan 2.
The share of outdoor lighting of municipal and public buildings in total emissions of the city was recorded 31,184 tCO2eq in 2017. Action plan 5 targets to renovate outdoor lighting systems of all public buildings, since the government encourages corporations to make at least 15% outdoor lighting energy savings in parallel with the growth rate of electricity price of the country. An energy efficient outdoor lighting transformation with 15% energy savings can provide 11,500 tCO2eq emission savings to Sakarya city.
Figure 4 indicates greenhouse gas emissions by buildings sector of reference year 2017 and 2030. From the figure, it can be concluded that action plans proposed for buildings sector within SWOT analysis in Table 1 promise to decrease sector based emissions by 20% compared to 2017 and by 33% compared to 2030 BAU scenario.
3.3. Renewable Energy
In 2019, total annual electricity consumption and greenhouse gas emissions by electricity generation of Sakarya city were recorded 3,144,306 MWh and 1,869,116 tCO2eq. The share of electricity generation-based emissions in total emissions was 40%. Figure 5 indicates that industrial sector makes the largest contribution to electricity consumption-based emissions with a 58% share and followed by commercial, residential, and agricultural sectors.
In Sakarya city, solar and bioenergy technologies are promising to transform energy system of the city into a more sustainable and secure system. The annual mean solar radiation of the city is about 1450 kWh/m2, lower than Turkey’s annual mean record but still a great potential comparing to Germany mean value (Figure 6) [31, 32]. Bioenergy is also a promising alternative in the city due to the significant potential of forest sources and nonforest sources (solid wastes, animal wastes, and agricultural crop residues). In 2019, annual dry biomass potential of field crops and tree pruning wastes were recorded 974,990 tonnes and 28,304,823 tonnes, respectively [26].
Republic of Turkey Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources 2019-2023 Strategic Plan aims to increase the share of renewables in electricity generation by at least 38.8%. In this context, it is expected to reach a total installed renewable capacity of 56,804 MW by 10,000 MW solar photovoltaic, 11,883 MW wind, 32,037 hydro, and 2,884 geothermal and biomass [19]. Short term and midterm renewable energy targets of SMM Strategic Plan to increase the installed renewable capacity of the city coincide well with national energy goals.
This paper proposes urgent renewable energy action plans for Sakarya city in Table 4 on the basis of SWOT analysis results in Table 1.
In Sakarya city, the share of electricity consumption by public buildings in total energy demand and total emissions is almost 16.8% and 33.1%, respectively. Action plan 1 offers that utilizing renewable energy sources as the primary energy source for electricity generation in municipal buildings and other public buildings would provide promising savings in total emissions of the city. It is likely to put urgent actions in place within action plan 1, since public buildings have some advantages in parallel with relevant regulations relating to unlicensed electricity generation based on renewables. Current legislation allows unlicensed applications up to 5 MW installed power [33]. In this context, the prior target must be to install 25,000 kWp solar photovoltaic energy systems in municipal buildings and the other public buildings by 2030. To achieve this target, the first step must be to determine primary and proper buildings for solar PV applications by a full feasibility study. Then, resources must be investigated to ensure the rapid transition to solar PV energy in the selected buildings. Finally, tendering schemes must be developed for installation, operation, and maintenance stages by typical project experiences. There are a number of studies, regarding the best installation angles [34] and mechanical preferences of PV systems [35] for Sakarya city that would guide responsible authorities to build optimum systems. The targeted solar PV capacity by public buildings would save 15,402 tCO2eq of electricity consumption-based emissions with an annual average electricity generation of 30,000 MWh.
Residential and nonresidential buildings are responsible for 41% of total electricity consumption and 40.9% of total energy-based emissions of Sakarya city. Action plan 2 offers a rapid solar PV energy transition for these buildings by utilizing current legislation for unlicensed applications. As in action 1, doing a full feasibility study, resource investigation, and developing tendering schemes are urgent steps to be followed. However, within the scope of the legislation on disaster risk areas, the city has been in the process of urban transformation. This process to build new residential areas and to transform the risky building stock must be considered as an opportunity for clean energy transition. In this context, local governments subsidize PV applications at certain capacities in residential and nonresidential buildings to increase the installed solar PV capacity of residential and nonresidential buildings by 175 MWp by 2030. The targeted capacity promises 240,000 MWh electricity generation and 107,940 tCO2eq emission savings annually.
Republic of Turkey Energy Market Regulatory Board approved a green tariff of 0.698 TL/kW which allows end users to source up their electricity from renewable resources. Action plan 3 targets to increase renewable energy demand on the end customer side by increasing the number of green tariffs. The priority of the action plan is to promote the greenest tariffs from energy suppliers that obtain electricity certificates directly from renewable energy producers. Greenest tariffs tend to be more expensive due to the cost and efficiency of renewable energy generation systems. However, the demand for these tariffs are likely to increase in parallel with social awareness actions within local and national sustainable development plans. Besides, it is vital to increase the number of mixed tariffs from suppliers that provide end users mixed electricity from mix of renewable resources and fossil fuels. Although mixed tariffs do not promise to stimulate the development of renewables, they would speed the transition to a hundred percent of renewable tariffs in Sakarya city where the number of green end users is very few. It is likely to save 514 tCO2eq emissions annually by a 1000 kWh of electricity consumption of an end user from a greenest tariff.
Reports indicate that the share of street lighting in total energy demand of SMM is 15.8% which accounts for 31.184 tCO2eq/year. Action plan 4 targets to reduce the street lighting demands by renovating the street lighting systems. The prior action must be to analyse lighting energy demands and to do a feasibility analysis of lighting systems regionally. In the next step, lighting systems must be renovated as per the order of priority given by feasibility reports. It is likely to provide 18.309 kWh energy savings and 9.41 tCO2eq emission savings annually by renovation of at least half of street lighting systems in the city.
SMM generates electricity from municipal solid waste with an installed capacity of 3.87 MW at Sakarya Integrated Solid Waste Management Centre (SEKAY). Action plan 5 offers that increasing the installed capacity of generation from municipal solid waste would be a rapid solution in short term to decrease the carbon foot print of the city in the process of renewable energy transition in all sectors.
Figure 7 indicates total greenhouse gas emissions of reference year 2017 and 2030. From the figure, it can be concluded that all action plans proposed within SWOT analysis in Table 1 promise to decrease total emissions by 24% compared to 2017 and by 28% compared to 2030 BAU scenario.
4. Discussion
Figure 8 indicates the annual mean daily temperature of Kartepe, Kocaeli for years 2009, 2015, and 2020. Kartepe is a town and district of Kocaeli city and located between Izmit Bay and Sapanca Lake of Sakarya City. The climatic conditions of the town are very similar to its closest neighbouring city, Sakarya. According to the figure, daily mean temperature for January 11 was 11.8°C, 8.6°C, and 4.3°C for years 2020, 2015, and 2009, respectively. In February, a temperature decrease of 10.02°C occurred between 2009 and 2020, and temperatures of -0.2°C, 2.5°C, and 10°C were recorded for 2020, 2015, and 2009, respectively. The month of March also experienced notable temperature changes. Daily mean temperature for March 8 was 22.2°C, 9°C, and 14.4°C for years 2020, 2015, and 2009, respectively. In April, a temperature increase of 9.7°C occurred between 2009 and 2020, and temperatures of 16.7°C, 11.8°C, and 7°C were recorded for 2020, 2015, and 2009, respectively. May 20 of 2020 was also a remarkable day with a temperature increase of 11°C and 9.5°C in comparison with the same days of 2009 and 2015, respectively. In addition, unexpected temperature values were observed in summer months. Daily mean temperature for June 3 was 15.8°C, 19.1°C, and 21.6°C for years 2020, 2015, and 2009, respectively. In 2020, on the 15th day of July a significant temperature decrease and on the 6th day of July a significant increase occurred in comparison with the same days of 2009 and 2015. Daily mean temperature for August 3 was recorded 19.6°C, 23°C, and 21.2°C for years 2020, 2015, and 2009, respectively. The changes in temperatures were very unpredictable for the days of autumn. In 2015, daily mean temperature of September 5 was recorded 34.9°C, and the daily mean temperature for the same day was recorded 22.7°C in 2020. Daily mean temperature for October 6 was recorded 33.1°C, 19.2°C, and 20.6°C for years 2020, 2015, and 2009, respectively. In November, 8.9°C decrease was recorded between 2020 and 2009. Finally, December 30 was recorded as a very remarkable day with an increase of 10.08°C between 2020 and 2015 [36].
Year comparison for annual mean daily temperature of years 2009, 2015, and 2020 of Kartepe town, the closest neighbouring town to Sakarya, agrees with the results of this paper that it is crucially urgent to act for climate change adaptation actions by all levels of governments from local to national to build a sustainable future for Turkey and the world.
The future of energy demand and energy-based emissions are dependent on climate change adaptation actions by all levels of governments from local to national. There is a widespread agreement that adaptation comprises of interactions between social, cultural, and economic processes by stakeholders and local governments [37]. Therefore, in order to mitigate climate change with resilient communities, it is required to understand how action plans work locally [38]. Ervural et al. conducted a SWOT analysis to recommend primary energy strategies to build a more sustainable and secure energy sector in Turkey. The study focusses on the geo-strategic position of the country and recommends regional cooperation to turn Turkey into an energy hub. In conclusion, the authors point out that future studies focusing on national energy planning with respect to sustainable opportunities can improve Turkey’s economic and environmental energy status [39]. This study focuses on reducing greenhouse gas emissions of Sakarya city, Turkey, to achieve the sustainability goals at local level and to contribute the national climate targets. In the study, the current emission status and a possible future roadmap is presented by performing a SWOT analysis from the perspective of local stakeholders. From this aspect, this paper would contribute local sustainability efforts by presenting a guide for local investors, authorised bodies, researchers, and consumers.
5. Conclusion
In Sakarya city, the largest contribution to energy based emissions comes from building sector, 57.5% of total emissions of the city. Transportation sector follows the building sector with a significant share, 27.5%. This paper presents local action plans to reduce the emissions by building and transport sectors and to support energy transformation set out in National Energy Efficiency Action Plan. Action plans were developed by a SWOT analysis with information gathering the main points of Covenant of Mayors, climate change target of National Energy Action Plan, and an online workshop with local stakeholders. The calculations derived from proposed action plans indicated that preventive measures by local government can reduce emission per capita dramatically.
The results of SWOT analysis in this paper emphasized that local policies have the key role to build resilient cities against the climate change combat with economies of scale, environmental sustainability, and educated society. The first step for local adaptation and mitigation in climate policy must be to develop complete and accurate greenhouse gas inventories. In this context, it is meaningful to real-time monitor and analyse emissions with current technologies like the Internet of Things (IoT) which offer a promising method to real-time monitoring. The next step must be to formulate climate change targets and actions considering the cross-link between local adaptation and mitigation. Final steps must be monitoring, reporting, and developing adaptive local legislations accordingly (Figure 9). In order to successfully implement climate change mitigation policies and activities, it is important to develop clearly stated assessment and reporting requirements and to develop monitoring methods that will provide performance evaluations. On a local scale, efforts to measure the progress in the practices and the cooperation between local government, private sector and local educational institutions will determine the contribution of local stakeholders and the success rate of sustainable development goals.
Data Availability
All data generated or analysed during this study are included in this published article.
Disclosure
The author confirms that this work is original and has not been published elsewhere nor is it currently under consideration for publication elsewhere. The author submitted this manuscript to a preprint server before submitting it to International Journal of Photoenergy [40].
Conflicts of Interest
The author declare that she has no competing interests.
Authors’ Contributions
Concept was done by CAT. Data collection was done by CAT. Literature research was done by CAT. Writing was done by CAT.
Acknowledgments
The author would like to thank Sakarya Metropolitan Municipality for providing valuable inputs of greenhouse gas inventories of the city between 2017 and 2019 to this study. The author would also like to acknowledge all participants involved in online workshop held on 13.10.2020.