Based on the reality that the climate change is a big threat for the societies,economics and ecosystems, the conference named “How the Climate Change and Development Politics can be sustained in harmony with each other? and Young Researchers’ Workshop entitled "Beyond Special Circumstances: Turkey and Global Climate Change Politics” were held in Istanbul with the participation of mostly young researchers before Paris Conference. The organization which was coordinated by Istanbul Policy Center Mercator- IPC Researcher Dr.Ethemcan Turhan and Assoc.Prof.Dr. Semra Cerit Mazlum from Marmara University was began with the opening speeches.
In order to deal with the different issues in the context of the climate change and development policies and prepare to the 21st Conference of Parties (COP21) on Climate Change to be held in Paris, on December,2015, Director of Sabancı University- Istanbul Policy Center Prof.Dr. Fuat Keyman; Director of Research and Implementation Center for International Center at Marmara University Assoc.Prof.Dr. Semra Cerit Mazlum and French Ambassador Laurent Bili made the opening speech of the conference that was held within the framework of conference and scientific workshop events.
Prof.Dr. Fuat Keyman said that : “Global world is faced with two important subject : Climate change and Development. Climate Conference to be held in Paris in the end of the year has an international important. Three important issues will be discussed: Development, Security and Economy. It needs serious workings before and after conference in order to enable the conference to serve as an effective platform. It needs that new policies should be produced and various acteurs shoud be partner to this working. As IPM, Climate Change is a very important working field for us."
Assoc.Prof.Dr. Semra Cerit Mazlum “We are in a new period, new agreement and expectation. Is it possible to make the new politics of the new period that are shaped with the humanity and how we foresight the policy? Turkey is among the countries that are late for both the academic studies and public sector in the climate change. Our aim is to organize this conference to build up the networks and create discussing platformes” said.
Laurent Bili said in his Turkish speech "The assessment which are expressed in the last report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has the certainty: “ Warming in the climate system is an indisputable truth. It is so cleear: without a collective awareness and general mobilization, to make something do not cut accross beyond hypothecate the next generations.
At the first day of the conference, the representatives of the public institutions, private sector, financial sector, university and civil society were all together. Philippe Zeller, Environment Advisor to the French Government; Tuba Seyyah from the Department of Climate Change of Ministry of Environment and Urban Planning; Barış Karapınar, IPCC 5. Research Group 2. Working Group Chief Advisor; Mustafa Özgür Berke, participating in the name of Climate Network; Metin Akman, Member of the board of TUSIAD; Hülya Kurt, Representative of TSKB Sustainable Management Systems and Bertrand Willocquet, Director of AFD Agency in Turkey emphasised some issues in the meeting. Moving towards the climate summit to be held in Paris at the end of the year, law carbon economy, the participation of the civil society and the other stakeholders to the resolution processes were the priority matters of the meeting.
After the conference, the programme included the exhibition named “The Sixty Solution for the Climate Change” of the famous fotographer Yann Arthus—Bertrand and coctail was also served.
At the second day of the event, it was organised the Young Researchers’ Workshop entitled "Beyond Special Circumstances: Turkey and Global Climate Change Politics”. The keynote speakers of the workshop were Prof.Hilal Elver, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food and Professor of Global Studies at University of California, USA; and Prof.Franck LeCoca, Lead Author of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Fifth Assessment Report of Working Group III (AR5 WGIII) and Director of CIRED ( International Center for Environment and Development).
Academicians and researchers from public institutions, civil societies and think tanks presented their studies on different dimensions of the climate change in the workshop and exchanged information with each other.
