Yerel İklim Yönetişimi ve İklim Değişikliği Politikaları: Rize İli Örneği
Local Climate Governance and Climate Change Policies: The Case of Rize

Summary/Abstract: Climate change is a multidimensional policy challenge that must be addressed at both global and local levels because of its environmental, economic, social, and administrative consequences. As the impacts of climate change vary across local contexts, policy processes require the involvement of municipalities, public institutions, universities, the private sector, and civil society organisations alongside central government. This study evaluates the local implications of Türkiye’s climate change policies through the framework of local climate governance and examines the existing policies and practices concerning climate change adaptation and mitigation in Rize Province. Designed as a qualitative case study, the research employs document analysis. It examines national climate policy and planning documents, strategic and action documents concerning local governments, and institutional reports and publicly available data on environmental management, waste management, energy efficiency, and disaster risk reduction activities undertaken by Rize Municipality and relevant public institutions operating at the provincial level. Rize’s current position is compared with the experiences of selected Turkish cities that have publicly available local climate plans and documented practices. The comparison is based on local climate planning, institutional capacity, financing, stakeholder participation, monitoring, and reporting. The findings demonstrate that, although Türkiye’s climate policies have developed at the institutional and strategic levels, significant problems persist in translating national objectives into local action. While various initiatives have been undertaken in Rize in the fields of waste management, energy efficiency, green space development, and disaster risk reduction, these activities have not been integrated into a comprehensive local climate action plan. The principal factors limiting the development of local climate governance include insufficient institutional and technical capacity, a lack of sustainable financing, fragmented implementation, limited stakeholder participation, and the absence of regular monitoring and reporting mechanisms. By examining the localisation of climate policies in a nonmetropolitan province that is highly exposed to climate-related risks, the study contributes to the literature and offers policy recommendations for strengthening local climate governance.

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