Türkiye
Türkiye
Türkiye
Policy developments In Türkiye, it is well known that climate and youth mobility have been a priority in EU Green Deal programmes and Erasmus+ projects for many years. However, the focus of youth policy in Türkiye has always been its policies aimed at strengthening youth. In this context, policy measures and objectives for strengthening youth are designed to include all dimensions, situations and future projections of a young person’s life. This comprehensive point of view for strengthening youth is apparent in the policy fields of Türkiye’s National Youth and Sports Policy Document. They are: Education and Lifelong Learning, Ethics and Humanitarian Values, Employment and Entre- preneurship, Disadvantaged Youth and Social Inclusion, Health and Environment, Democratic Participation and Citizenship Consciousness, Culture and Art, Science and Technology, Youth in the International Arena, Using Leisure Time, Informing the Youth, and Volunteering and Mobility. Türkiye has adopted a Climate Change Strategy for the period 2010 to 2030 which aims to help combat climate change within the framework of “common but differen - tiated responsibilities” to the extent its capacities allow, which is one of the main principles of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The Strategy also defines the country’s mitigation, adaptation, tech - nology, financing and capacity generation policies. It has developed various action plans and strategies in climate and related fields. Civil society initiatives for young people on climate change come under what is known as an “Initiative of Youth Participation in Climate Change Policies in Türkiye“ (Youth for Climate for short), which aims to bring together different youth groups so they can become an independent, collective pressure/lobby group to call upon Türkiye to adopt a fair, realistic and sustainable climate policy at COPs of critical importance. The Initiative held its first meeting in September 2009 in Ankara, which was attended by approximately 30 young people. After this meeting, it was decided to estab- lish an initiative and develop activities in preparation for COP 15 in 2009 in Copenhagen. Youth for Climate, which was established in June 2009 ahead of the Copen-
hagen Summit by a group of university students and recent graduates interested in climate policy, attended the Copenhagen Summit and published a daily bulletin. The group played an active role in the establishment of 350 Ankara and in organising the first 350.org actions, and also ran the campaign for the Copenhagen Summit together. The group organised an activity in November 2009 in Kuğulu Park entitled “Heat the Soup, not the Nature”. The group connected remotely via a live link to METU’s (Middle East Technical University) Environ- mental Engineering Department and provided informa- tion about the summit. Youth for Climate also prepared a booklet about climate justice named “After all, it is the End of the World” that was distributed at the European Social Forum in Istanbul. The group is presently not active. A climate simulation programme took place in İzmir and Ankara to introduce young climate leaders to the Change for Climate (C4C) project. The programme was open to members of non-governmental organisations and university students under the age of 35 and simulated the youngsters’ participation in United Nations Climate Change negotiations. Young people also participated in simulated UNFCCC summits such as World Climate and World Energy that were developed by the Massachu- setts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Climate Interac- tive, and in simulations of inter-sectoral global meetings for the reduction of greenhouse gases. They participate in workshops on climate-related issues to help change public opinion, such as global warming, carbon footprint, climate justice, low carbon economy and 2100 global temperature projections. Participatory Climate Change Action Plan consulta- tion meetings were held in April 2018 with both stake- holders and Kadıköy residents so goals could be set and a roadmap developed for the Kadıköy Municipality Climate Change Action Plan. In this context, training was given to 150 young volunteers aged 18 to 29 especially on combating climate change and adapting to climate change in cities. It aimed to help the young people in this neighbourhood to become resistant to the negative effects of climate change. Also, a sustainable training
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