The Second Meeting of the United Cities and Local Governments Middle East and West Asia Section (UCLG-MEWA) Committee on Environment has been held in Istanbul

The second Meeting of the United Cities and Local Governments Middle East and West Asia Section (UCLG-MEWA) Committee on Environment is being hosted by Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality on 30-31 May 2016. This meeting is a part of a comprehensive event with important discussions concerning the post-COP 21 (Conference of Parties held in Paris) process and “Habitat III: Housing and Sustainable Urban Development Conference” which will be held in Ecuador in October 2016.

In the meeting, the Deputy Undersecretary Mr. Ahmet YÜCEL has delivered a speech on behalf of the Ministry for EU Affairs. Mr. YÜCEL has stated that all local administrations, notably the municipalities, bear great responsibility in achieving the legislative alignment studies and infrastructure investments which are supported by the EU funds in order to harmonize and implement the EU environment acquis. Mr. YÜCEL has also emphasized that it is significant to improve the local capacity and to localize large scale national and international objectives to successfully implement climate change policies.