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Introduction

Although cities make up only 1% of the land and ice-free land areas of
the Earth, they have serious effects on the environment. The most important
of these effects is climate change, which also has economic and social
consequences. Climate change is an important issue that defines our age, and
is defined in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
(UNFCCC) as “a change in climate which is attributed directly or indirectly
to human activity that alters the composition of the global atmosphere”
(UNFCCC, 1992).
In the 5th Assessment Report of The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change (IPCC), it was emphasized for the first time with 95% certainity rate
that climate change results from anthropogenic activities, which was restated
in Working Group I Report in the Sixth Assessment Report published in
August 2021. Thus, the climate change experienced in our age is also called
“anthropogenic” climate change (IPCC, 2014; 2021).
75% of the global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions result from the activities
that take place in cities. These activities include transportation, construction,
industrial sector and fossil fuel-based energy generation and consumption for
these sectors (UNEP, 2022). Based on the fact that 2001 was one of the seven
warmest years ever recorded, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO)
announced that it was the 7th consecutive year in which average temperature
rise exceeded 1°C compared to pre-industrial age. It means that due to the
greenhouse gases and the ensuing record temperatures in the atmosphere,
the negative effects of climate change will continue to be seen in the long-
term (IPCC, 2021; UN, 2022). In fact, the average temperature has increased
by 1,1°C compared to pre-industrial age (WMO, 2022).
Paris Agreement was adopted in the 2015 UNFCCC 21st Conference of the
Parties.The goal of the agreement is “to limit global warming to well below
2 and pursuing efforts to limit it to 1.5°C, compared to pre-industrial levels.”
(UNFCCC, 2015). Thus, all Parties of Paris Agreement were invited to work
towards achieving this aim and determine actions towards adaptation to the
effects of climate change. However, due to the insufficiency in the efforts to
mitigate greenhouse gases, since the 1980s, every decade has been warmer
than the previous one. In fact, it was also confirmed by IPCC Working Group
I Report published in August 2001 that the upward trend would continue in
the future. As emphasized in the report, the effects of climate change will be
felt more quickly, frequently, and severely in the upcoming years (IPCC, 2021;
UN, 2022).

40 Journal of Environment, Urbanization and Climate,