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.