Zero Emissions Should Be the Goal for Improving Air Quality

On a planet where 9 out of every 10 people breathe polluted air, 8 million people annually suffer from diseases caused by air pollution. Today, air quality protection ranks among the most important environmental issues related to human health. Transportation-related emission pollution ranks first among the key factors negatively affecting air quality.

European Mobility Week is held every year in September, and this year's theme is "Zero Emission for All."

During the week encouraging cities and municipalities to take sustainable transportation measures, awareness campaigns were conducted to promote the improvement of municipal transportation planning and public transit systems, the expansion of cycling and pedestrian paths, and to encourage citizens to travel using alternative transportation methods instead of private vehicles. In Turkey, the number of vehicles, which was 8.6 million in 2002, exceeded 23 million as of July 2020 according to Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) data. This increase in the number of motorized vehicles in recent years has also increased pollution rates from transportation in cities. An important point worth noting is that as motorized vehicles age, their fuel consumption and pollutant emissions increase proportionally. In Turkey, vehicles aged 0-5 years represent 33.4 percent of the total fleet, vehicles aged 6-10 years represent 21.7 percent, and vehicles over 10 years old represent 44.9 percent. One of the activities carried out within the scope of European Mobility Week was a "Zero Emission for All Special Session" organized jointly by the Republic of Turkey Ministry of Environment and Urbanization and the Association of Turkish Municipalities, as part of the Improving Air Quality in Cities and Raising Public Awareness Project (CityAir).

Municipal representatives attending the session put on the table action plans to be developed to eliminate air pollution from transportation, as well as best practices implemented by different municipalities.

Göktuğ Kara, Sector Manager at the EU Delegation to Turkey, delivered remarks. Noting that 551 municipalities from Turkey registered for this year's European Mobility Week, Kara stated: "During the three-month lockdown period in the pandemic, we directly experienced the positive impact of the reduction in the number of vehicles on the roads on air quality. Following this, the fact that 551 of our municipalities registered to participate in European Mobility Week activities is the best indicator of how much the issue is being owned. Turkey is a developing country. As income increases, the need for mobility also increases.

Currently, 25 percent of greenhouse gas emissions come from transportation, and 70 percent of that occurs in cities. Under current conditions, the increasing need for mobility will increase transportation-related emissions in urban areas. The real challenge is how we can bring this ratio down by 2050.

That is why solutions that can promote walking and cycling for short distances should be proposed. The necessary infrastructure for zero-emission mobility and integration between different modes of transportation must be completed. Intelligent transportation systems will also play an important role. For this, local authorities and central governments need to come together and develop sustainable mobility plans as standards to address new needs," he said. Dr. İsmail Raci Bayer, Head of the Financial Assistance Department at the Directorate General of EU External Relations of the Republic of Turkey Ministry of Environment and Urbanization, also addressed important points in the meeting. Noting that they are implementing the "Environment and Climate Action Sector Operational Programme" with a budget of EUR 335 million through EU Pre-accession Financial Assistance Funds (IPA), Bayer stated: "Within this framework, approximately half of the EUR 335 million allocated to our country has been contracted through 41 projects signed so far. CityAir is a project implemented within this scope. The most important distinction of CityAir is that it also has a public awareness component. If we can create this awareness, every citizen of ours can individually contribute to improving air quality," she said. Nazan Özyürek, Head of the Air Management Department at the Republic of Turkey Ministry of Environment and Urbanization, summarized the work conducted within the scope of the CityAir project. Stating that their primary objective is to identify all sources causing air pollution, Özyürek continued: "In addition to industry and domestic heating, transportation is also among the most important pollutants. In cities, 15 percent of pollution originates from road vehicles. This is because our cities are vehicle-oriented cities. We are conducting a series of activities to adapt our cities to alternative transportation methods such as bicycles, scooters, and walking. Our goal is to complete legal regulations by year-end to create 6,835 kilometers of bicycle routes and put them into service for users on four separate routes."

Bicycles should be a mode of transportation, not a hobby

Nilüfer Sivrikaya, Director of External Relations at the Association of Turkish Municipalities (TBB), addressed the importance of bicycles. Emphasizing the need to transform bicycles from a hobby into a mode of transportation, Sivrikaya stated: "Our efforts to encourage our municipalities as the TBB are bearing fruit. While around 20 municipalities from Turkey applied for European Mobility Week in 2018, 551 municipalities applied this year. The highest number of applications for the activities came from Spain with over 600 municipalities. However, when proportioned, Spain has over 8,000 municipalities while Turkey has 1,389 municipalities. When proportioned, we are pleased to see that Turkey has the highest application rate. This demonstrates how much we are taking ownership of this issue," she said.