UCLG-MEWA Committee on Environment Presidency Meeting has been carried out in Balikesir in 23 October 2019. This has been the first meeting of the presidency after the renewal of the committee management in the UCLG-MEWA in 9-10 July 2019. Gaziantep Metropolitan Municipality, Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality and Sanliurfa Metropolitan Municipality participated to the presidency meeting hosted by Balıkesir Metropolitan Municipality.
The meeting started with the evaluation of environmental problems in the MEWA region and continued with the discussion of local government and city policies on global climate change. Participants emphasized the importance of city involvement and city to city cooperation in the efforts against climate change.
Balıkesir Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Yücel Yılmaz indicated that cities and citizens are the primary demand source in energy consumption traditionally driven by fossil fuels. He emphasized the importance of transitioning into the usage of high efficiency passive houses and buildings to contribute to the effort.
The needs, priorities and action areas of the committee was decided in the framework of the 2019-2022 period of the UCLG-MEWA Committee on Environment. The necessity to involve both cities and non-city stakeholders to the process in order to increase efficiency and technical capacity was emphasized .
The structure of the task forces that operate in different thematic areas under the committee were also altered in order to improve efficiency. The task forces for the 2019-2022 period were decided as the “Task Force on Climate Change”, “Task Force on Waste Management and Pollution” and “Task Force on Water and Wastewater”.