İmamoğlu’s call for ‘Canal Istanbul’ in Glasgow

Ekrem İmamoğlu, Mayor of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IMM), in his speech at the UN Climate Change Summit held in Glasgow; “We consider the Kanal Istanbul project imposed on Istanbul to be the most serious risk for the security of the city in many respects. We see that this project is against the 17 principles of the UN within the scope of ‘Sustainable Development’ goals. We look forward to solidarity on this issue,” he said.

İmamoğlu’s call for ‘Canal Istanbul’ in Glasgow

Ekrem İmamoğlu, Mayor of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IMM), went to Glasgow to attend the 26th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP26), held in Scotland.

İmamoğlu first attended the panel titled “Race to Zero” organized by the C40 Large Cities Climate Leadership Group (C40 Cities) in Glasgow.

The participants of the panel moderated by the CEO of the World Green Building Council, Cristina Gamboa, were Romeu Zema, the Governor of the Minas Gerais state of Brazil, and Elizabeth Chege, the President of the World Green Building Council Africa Regional Network, together with İmamoğlu.

Emphasizing that Istanbul is the only C40 member city in Turkey in his speech at the panel, İmamoğlu said:

“MANY COUNTRIES HAVE INVESTMENTS IN ISTANBUL”

“We live in a world order in which cities are both perpetrators and victims of the climate change problem. The world’s population lives in cities to a very large extent. In this process, as IMM, we consider making our city much safer for our citizens as a priority. At the same time, it is located in one of the locations with the highest earthquake risk in the world. Istanbul, the largest city in Europe with its population of 16 million, is geopolitically located at a very strategic point. First of all, half of Turkey’s industrial production is located in Istanbul and its surroundings. Direct investments of many countries, especially the European Union and America, are also located in Istanbul.

With the participation of many experts and scientists, we have taken into account thousands of years of historical data. Experts estimate the probability of an earthquake of 7 or higher magnitude in Istanbul in the next 30 years at the level of 65 percent. Depending on this dangerous possibility, 300 thousand risky residences in Istanbul need to be renovated. We initiated extensive detection studies to identify risky buildings and prepared risk analyzes for earthquakes. According to experts; In the 7.5 magnitude destructive earthquake scenario; 22.6 percent of the buildings in the city will be demolished, 25 million tons of debris will be created, and 30 percent of the roads will be closed. Drinking water and waste water lines and natural gas lines will be damaged. In total, there will be a great economic loss. Because of this dangerous picture, we have urgently decided to develop widespread resilience measures in our city. With the ‘Istanbul Earthquake Workshop’, which we held with 1,200 participants from 174 institutions and academies in 2019, we created our actions on a participatory basis and prepared a comprehensive ‘Earthquake Mobilization Plan’.

https://www.birgun.net/haber/imamoglu-ndan-glasgow-da-kanal-istanbul-cagrisi-365484