ISTANBUL (IGFA) – Throughout 2023, we have faced various ecological problems both in our country and around the world. Chief among these problems are; Erosion and soil loss, decreased food security, water stress, climate crisis and the floods it creates, decrease in biodiversity, deforestation and destruction of nature protected areas have come. Our country faced major earthquake disasters and their consequences.
In addition, coal-based energy policies and Group 4 mining activities have caused serious damage to the natural assets in our country.
In addition, spatial planning in urban and rural areas that are not in harmony with nature and increasing construction pressures have brought the deterioration of ecological balance to an even more critical level.
UMUT YEŞERTEN ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS OF 2023
Good News from Murat Mountain
EIA process of the Yıldız Gold-Silver Mine project planned to be built in Gediz District of Kütahya; It was stopped once again after the Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change gave a negative EIA decision. As a result of the reaction of citizens, local governments and professional chambers against the project with the slogan "Let Murat Mountain Not Be Destroyed", Murat Mountain, an important water and tourism resource of the region, gained life.
Good News from Eskişehir Alpu
Eskişehir 1st Administrative Court annulled the positive EIA decision of the thermal power plant project to be built in the Eskişehir Great Plain Protected Area. The Environmental Plan, which allowed the construction of the Alpu Thermal Power Plant Project, was canceled by court decision as a result of our application. With the cancellation of the positive EIA decision for the project, we were happy that an important agricultural protected area was preserved.
In the court decision, in the EIA report; It was mentioned that treating the water distribution and discharge lines to be constructed from Gökçekaya Dam to the facility for the cooling water of the coal mine and the coal-fired power plant as separate activities is far from scientific, the project was not evaluated holistically, and an integrated approach was not used in calculating the waste amounts. The decision also stated that the data used in air quality modeling was uncertain, and underlined that no study had been conducted on how the ash storage area of the power plant would affect the groundwater quality.
As TEMA Foundation, we continue to raise hope with these two consecutive decisions that protect Eskişehir's natural assets and agricultural lands!
People of Yalova Won
We won the lawsuit we filed for a decision in the public interest for the production facility of carbon fiber and intermediate products on the land of island 2020, parcel 304, which is planned to be established in Taşköprü town of Çiftlikköy district of Yalova in 1. Thus, in the area where 12,5 hectares of absolute irrigated agricultural land will be preserved, the people will continue to grow fruit and the olive groves around the land will be protected!
COP28 Decision to Implement the Loss Damage Fund and the First Step to Exit Fossil Fuels
Two important developments took place at the 30th Conference of the Parties (COP13) of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, which took place in Dubai between 28 November and 28 December. Countries largely responsible for greenhouse gas emissions have pledged to provide approximately $800 million in financing under the Loss Damage Fund to cover the damages of people who deeply feel the effects of the climate crisis. However, the amount required to cover losses and damages is estimated to be billions of dollars annually. In the decision to implement the fund, the necessity of conducting a study to calculate the amount of loss and damage was not included.
The decision to temporarily establish the secretariat for the fund within the World Bank, instead of an independent authority, also attracted the reaction of civil society.
Because it is important for the secretariat to be independent so that communities and countries that need access to resources can benefit from the fund fairly. On the other hand, while the Loss and Damage Fund should be organized in the form of a grant, the World Bank is an organization that also finances fossil fuels and has debt-based policies.
The second important step taken at COP28 was the decision announced as a result of the Global Situation Assessment (GST). The phrase "exit from fossil fuels" was included in the decision text. Although this is the first step towards abandoning fossil fuels, it is not enough because it does not contain a clear target.
On the other hand, at the conference; There have also been positive developments, such as the commitment to triple renewable energy by 2030 and the joining of many states in the Post-Coal Energy Alliance. However, Turkey's failure to take part in these processes by not being a signatory to these documents has taken its place among the negative environmental agendas for nature.
NEGATIVE ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS OF 2023
We were deeply shaken by the Kahramanmaraş Earthquakes
On February 6, 2023, Turkey was shaken by earthquakes with a magnitude of 7,8 and 7,5, respectively, whose epicenters were Pazarcık and Elbistan districts of Kahramanmaraş. Earthquake; It was felt intensely in the surrounding provinces, especially in Adana, Adıyaman, Diyarbakır, Elazığ, Kahramanmaraş, Kilis, Gaziantep, Hatay, Osmaniye, Malatya and Şanlıurfa. According to official figures, at least 50 thousand 783 people died and more than 122 thousand people were injured in Turkey as a result of the earthquakes.
The destruction and reconstruction process that occurred as a result of earthquakes had many negative effects on the environment and social life.
As TEMA Foundation, we remind you once again that since we are a country in the earthquake zone, it is vital to take the necessary precautions against earthquakes, implement disaster management plans and prepare debris management plans.
We Have Entered the Age of Global Boiling
The World Meteorological Organization and the Copernicus Earth Observation Program announced that July was the hottest month ever recorded. Thereupon, the United Nations announced that this situation was just the beginning of the climate crisis and that we are no longer in the Age of Global Warming but in the Age of Global Boiling. The frequency and severity of heat waves are increasing in our country and around the world. Scientists; He emphasizes that the main cause of disasters such as forest fires, sudden rains and floods is the climate crisis caused by greenhouse gases resulting from human activities.
Minerals Are Not More Valuable Than Our Living Spaces
Group 4 mining activities, which cause irreversible damage to protected areas, forest areas, water basins, productive agricultural lands and living spaces, are causing more serious threats every day. With the studies on mining licenses we carried out as TEMA Foundation, an average of 29% of the 67 provinces in our country are in IV. We had determined that the group was licensed for mines.
Distribution of mining licenses on a provincial basis; Gümüşhane 93%, Kütahya 92%, Giresun 85%, Rize 82%, Uşak 80%, Çanakkale-Balıkesir (Kaz Mountains) 79%, Trabzon 77%, Ordu 74%, Zonguldak-Bartın 72%, Artvin 71%, Eskişehir % 71, Izmir 70%, Bayburt 65%, Sivas 65%, Tekirdağ-Kırklareli 65%, Erzurum 63%, Muğla 59%, Kahramanmaraş 58%, Afyonkarahisar 52%, Erzincan-Tunceli 52%, Tokat 46%, Karaman 38% and Siirt-Şırnak-Batman 34%.
Mining Accidents Claim Lives Again
According to the information reflected to the public; 8 in the accident that occurred due to landslide in the mine in Soma on 1 June, 13 in the accident that occurred as a result of the ceiling collapse in the mine in Karadeniz Ereğli district of Zonguldak on 1 September, 15 in the accident that occurred in the Acıpayam district of Denizli, Karaismailler on 2 November. A total of 23 mine workers, 3 of whom died in the collapse accident that occurred in the chrome mine in Siirt's Şirvan district on 7 and XNUMX November, lost their lives.
Water Crisis Deepens
The water crisis is deepening due to increasing temperatures, evaporation and drought due to the climate crisis. According to the data measured in September this year, the occupancy rates of Istanbul dams have reached their lowest levels since 2014. The average dam occupancy rate, measured as 5% on September 2022, 56,88, dropped to 1% 5 year later, on September 2023, 27,88.
We Say No to Nuclear
Unfortunately, efforts to establish a nuclear power plant in our country continue unabated. While the construction of the first unit of the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant, which is being tried to be put into operation in Mersin despite all objections, has come to an end, studies continue in the region for the nuclear power plant planned to be established in Sinop, despite the lawsuits filed.
As TEMA Foundation, the case file we filed with the Council of State, requesting the cancellation of the Sinop-Kastamonu-Çankırı Planning Region 1/100.000 Scale Environmental Plan Amendment and the Sinop Central District Planning Sub-Region 1/25.000 Scale Environmental Plan Amendment (Sinop Nuclear Power Plant) and, first of all, a stay of execution decision. The trial continues in . Detection studies have started in the Thrace Region for the third nuclear power plant.
Flood Disasters Are Not Destiny
In 2023, in our country and in the world; We have witnessed floods caused by sudden and heavy rains, whose frequency is increasing due to the impact of the climate crisis.
In Southeastern Turkey on March 15; Due to the floods that especially affected Adıyaman and Şanlıurfa, 21 people lost their lives and 3 thousand 154 houses were damaged in two provinces. The fact that floods occurred in the same regions after the devastating effects of the February 6 earthquakes made the effects of the destruction even more severe. Many earthquake tents and containers were flooded, and homeless earthquake victims were evacuated from the tents.
On September 5, 8 of our citizens lost their lives due to the flood that occurred due to heavy rains in Istanbul and Kırklareli.
A total of 20 people died in Batman, Zonguldak and Diyarbakır provinces due to the flood disaster on November 8, and 1 person from the crew died on the ship that sank due to the severe storm in the Black Sea.
On December 10, 2 people lost their lives in the landslide disaster that occurred as a result of the heavy rain yesterday in Asma District in the central district of Zonguldak.
In the world, unfortunately, the "Daniel Storm" that hit the east of Libya on September 10; It caused floods in the cities of Benghazi, Beyda, Marj, Suse and Derna. The World Health Organization announced that the death toll reached 4 thousand 333. In the flood-affected areas in the east of the country, 70 percent of the infrastructure was damaged.
A Forest Area the Size of Approximately 4.500 Football Fields Burned in Çanakkale
In Çanakkale in the summer of 2023; The forest fire that broke out near Kızılkeçili Village on July 16 destroyed 1.300 hectares, and the forest fire that broke out near Kayadere Village on August 22 burned XNUMX hectares.
Including 2.100 hectares; A total of 3.400 hectares of forest, approximately the size of 4.500 football fields, was burned.
Forest Fires Caused Loss of Life and Property
Unfortunately, a total of 2023 General Directorate of Forestry employees, 3 of whom worked in the forest fires in the Menderes district of Izmir in September 1, 1 in Kütahya, 1 in Gaziantep and 6 in the forest fires in the Menderes district of Izmir in July, unfortunately lost their lives. .
Nature Watch Continues in Akbelen
Akbelen Forest, located in İkizköy, Milas district of Muğla, is wanted to be destroyed in order to extract coal for Yeniköy-Kemerköy thermal power plants. Citizens of İkizköy have been on guard duty to protect their olives, forests and the life of all nature for more than 2 years. However, despite all the efforts of İkizköy residents and environmentalists, mining operations began in the region after the tree cutting started on July 24.
İkizköy residents and life advocates; After the Muğla 1st Administrative Court rejected the license cancellation case filed against the enterprise that received a mining operating permit until 2041, he applied to the court of appeal through his lawyers. In the application made to the Izmir Regional Court of Justice, it was requested to suspend the execution of the mining operating license and operating permit.
Phaselis Ancient City Should Be Protected
A beach project is planned to be carried out in Alacasu Bay in the north and Bostanlık Bay in the south of the Phaselis Ancient City, which is located in Kemer district of Antalya and is a first degree archaeological site. The construction activities of the project, which includes daily facilities such as cafeteria, parking lot, welcome center, showers and toilets, are about to be completed despite the court's stay of execution decision. We demand that the activities carried out be stopped and the region be protected so that living life and biological diversity are not affected, and cultural assets and natural areas are not destroyed!
