İmamoğlu: 'We Will Reduce The Rate Of Fossil Based Vehicles In Istanbul Traffic'

IMM President Ekrem İmamoğluspoke at the online meeting organized by the “C19 Big Cities Climate Leadership Group” (C40 Cities), where the post-Kovid-40 economic recovery process and climate change actions were discussed. Summarizing the strategic steps taken in 10 different areas, from metro manufacturing to increasing the amount of active green space, from smart city applications to waste materials and energy production, İmamoğlu said, “As İBB; "We care about C40's mission, its role in global change, and we want to be an active part of this great change."

Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IMM) President Ekrem İmamoğluattended the “European Region Mayors Meeting” organized by the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group (C40 Cities) yesterday evening. In the virtual meeting held online; Within the scope of “Challenges in the post-Kovid-19 economic recovery”, “Global Green New Deal” and “European Green Deal”, the topics of how climate action can be accelerated were discussed. To the meeting; The mayors of Athens, Barcelona, ​​Heidelberg, Istanbul, Copenhagen, London, Los Angeles, Madrid, Milan, Oslo, Rome, Stockholm, Tel Aviv and Warsaw participated. Moderated by David Miller, Director of C40 International Diploma, the meeting started with the opening speech of C40 President, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti.

SUMMARY THE STRATEGIC STEPS IN 10 AREAS

Speaking at the online meeting, İmamoğlu said, "As IMM, we care about the mission of the C40 and its role in global change and we want to be an active part of this great change." Emphasizing that the "Green and Fair Recovery" plan they prepared after taking office is a scientific guide for the fight against Kovid-19 and preparations for possible crises, İmamoğlu said, He summarized the strategic steps they took in 10 different areas.

"WE WILL REDUCE THE RATE OF FOSSIL-BASED VEHICLES IN ISTANBUL TRAFFIC"

Stating that they will increase the metro network from 2025 kilometers to 261 kilometers in 425 with the new lines launched to create a sustainable public transportation network, İmamoğlu continued as follows:

“In this way, we will reduce the rate of fossil-based vehicles in Istanbul traffic. We renew our bus lines with hybrid buses. We have implemented 50 new ferry lines in our city. In order to make Istanbul a livable city, we increased the amount of active green spaces significantly. We have taken steps to increase the share of renewable energy in total energy consumption to 2024 percent by 18, with solar power plants at our service points, especially in our car parks. In Istanbul, where more solid waste is produced than many European countries with 18 tons per day, in 195, we obtained 2020 MWh of electricity and increased compost and recycling rates. We started to use big data-based technologies both for overcoming our traffic problems and for smart city solutions. With the 'Adaptive Traffic Management System' (ATAK), we achieved an 455.892 percent reduction in carbon emissions. Thanks to our new energy production facility, which we have completed and put into service, we will meet the energy needs of 18 thousand households and prevent 500 million tons of carbon emissions annually. "

"WE BELIEVE IN THE IMPORTANCE OF SOLIDARITY"

“We are revising our 'Climate Change Action Plan' with a technical team from C2050 in order to make Istanbul a 'carbon-neutral' and resilient city in 40,” said İmamoğlu. We established the Systems Directorate. We accepted as the main approach to evaluate the problems of our city in line with the 'UN Sustainable Development Goals' and to solve them with the democratic participation of all stakeholders. We believe in the importance of the solidarity of European cities, which is one of the topics of this session, through technical and financial cooperation in the fight against climate change that has deepened with the Kovid-19 outbreak.

WHAT IS C40?

The C40 Big Cities Climate Leadership Group (C40 Cities) is a network of world cities in London in October 2005 to reduce greenhouse gas emissions against climate change. The purpose of this formation is to bring together leading cities that carry out studies on climate. The C40 aims to support cities that establish meaningful, measurable and sustainable policies for effective collaboration, information sharing and climate change. The C40 Big Cities Climate Leadership Group has brought together more than 10 cities in the last 90 years, and thanks to these cities, it has the right to represent a population of 700 million. C40 Cities have 11 members from Africa, 31 from Asia, 20 from Europe including Istanbul, 27 from America and 3 from Oceania. The C40 has three types of membership status: "megacities", "innovative cities" and "observer cities". The C40 Mayor is headed by Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti.