Carbon Emission Analysis and Reporting in Urban Emissions: An Analysis of the Greenhouse Gas Inventories and Climate Action Plans in Sarıçam Municipality

Abstract

The urban carbon footprint (UCF) is an important tool for assessing an organization’s ecological impacts and in guiding sustainability efforts. This calculation is usually measured in tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2-eq). Calculations provide important data to determine strategies to reduce the carbon footprint and establish sustainability targets. Various standards and protocols guide UCF calculation, and many organizations aim to make these data transparent to their stakeholders and the public. This study aims to calculate the UCF of Sarıçam Municipality (SM) in the Adana Province of Türkiye. This study includes the greenhouse gas emission inventories resulting from all activities of the SM main service building, guest house, construction site service building, Cultural Center service building, and additional service buildings between 1 January 2022 and 31 December 2022. The calculations include generator fuel consumption, electricity consumption, the refrigerant gas leaks and refills resulting from these activities, the fuel consumed in vehicles owned by the company or whose fuel consumption is under company control, emissions originating from personal travel, emissions originating from customers and visitors, emissions originating from business travel, purchases, etc. Emissions from products purchased and emissions from waste transportation are included. The findings show that, in 2022, the total UCF of SM was equal to 10,862.46 tons of CO2-eq. The Paris Agreement aims to reduce the per capita emissions to approximately two tons of CO2-eq by 2030. The carbon footprint per employee within the municipality was calculated at 12.43 tons of CO2-eq, as derived from the analyzed data. The results reveal the importance of implementing sustainable practices and strategies within SM, such as energy efficiency measures, waste reduction, and the adoption of renewable energy sources, to mitigate its carbon footprint. This study plans to provide a basis for SM’s reduction efforts by keeping greenhouse gas emissions under control.