Effect of transnational climate networks on climate experiments: the Nilüfer Municipality, a case from Turkey

Abstract

Climate change is a serious environmental problem, to be solved only with global participation. However, implementation of global policies is associated closely with national, regional and local processes. For this reason, it is critically important to strengthen our understanding of the diversity of experiments because such urban climate change initiatives may affect the expectations and demands that will be placed on future projects. Moreover, to reveal the effect of the factors, such as participation in transnational networks, on the experiments at local level is also critically important in contextually different settings. From this point of view, the present study aims to present experimentation in addressing climate change in the case of the Nilufer Municipality in northwestern Turkey and to examine the effect of joining an international network, as a key factor that may support urban climate experiments. The research is designed as a case study built on both primary and secondary sources. The Nilufer Municipality is selected as the case area as it is the only signatory of Mayors Adapt and one of sixteen signatories of the Covenant of Mayors (CoM) among the 1397 municipalities within the Turkish Republic. Finally, this case study shows that although local governments have not been involved in the climate change policies at the national level in the Turkish context, the Nilufer Municipality was able to develop its own experiments by being part of a transnational network, especially after signing the Covenant of Mayors in 2014. This finding leads us to the conclusion that supranational organizations can have significant impact on the climate experiments initiation of local governments that are important actors in the implementation of policies to address climate change as a global problem.