Bibliometric analysis of carbon footprint studies within the scope of sustainability

This study presents an examination of carbon footprint studies, one of the working methods put forward in order to combat the ever-increasing climate change. As a result of anthropogenic effects resulting from situations such as unconscious use of resources, increasing energy demand, and industrial development, the world's climate is undergoing negative changes. These global climate changes are long-term and bring with them many irreversible results. Melting of glaciers, depletion of freshwater resources, flooding of lands, loss of biodiversity, high temperature increases, droughts, sudden rains and floods are the symptoms of climate change that are seen and may continue to be seen. The concept of "sustainability" has been put forward in order to combat global climate change. Sustainability is expressed as meeting the needs of today by considering the needs of future generations. The concept of sustainability appears among different disciplines. Environmental sustainability is one of the basic components of this concept. Environmental sustainability is of great importance for combating climate change. In this study, the analysis of studies involving the "carbon footprint" application, which aims to ensure environmental sustainability, has been carried out. Carbon footprint is a concept that emerged as a measure of carbon emissions generated during the production, use and disposal of products and services. Activities such as energy production, transportation and industrial development cause carbon emissions to increase. Targets have been determined to reduce carbon emissions globally. Various roadmaps and action plans have been presented in order to achieve the determined targets. The European Green Agreement, to which Turkey is a party, is one of the important steps taken towards these targets. The European Green Agreement plays an important role in carbon reduction with its carbon neutral targets. The aim here is to bring carbon emissions in the atmosphere to levels before the industrial revolution. Determining the carbon footprint can be seen as the starting step of these targets. The purpose of this analysis is to determine the current status, progress and distribution of carbon footprint studies globally by country. Detailed results were obtained by selecting bibliometric analysis as the analysis method. Bibliometric analysis serves as a guide for researchers for the interactions of existing studies and future studies. A holistic perspective on the subject has been presented with the obtained analysis results. As a result of this thesis, the articles published between 2020-2024 on the subject of carbon footprint were analyzed using the bibliometric analysis method. It was determined that 8539 articles were published in the search on sustainability, 1233 in the search on environmental sustainability, 2756 in the search on footprint and 1305 in the search on carbon footprint in the Web of Science database between 2020-2024. Only 14.44% of the articles on sustainability were written in the sub-topic of environmental sustainability. It is estimated that the remaining articles were written in the fields of economic sustainability and social sustainability, which are the other main components of sustainability. Footprint studies are carried out to determine the human impact on the environment in order to ensure environmental sustainability. Although the articles on footprint are a sub-category of environmental sustainability, it is thought that they also include the footprints of other sustainability components. The reason why the articles on the green deal are still quite few is that the agreement was signed in 2019. Since the studies on carbon footprint and sustainability issues started to be conducted at earlier dates, a visible difference emerges. The studies on carbon footprint, which are the last link in this hierarchy, are planned to zero carbon emissions by 2050 within the scope of the European Green Deal and to leave no region behind in this regard. It is a very important issue for the zero carbon target targeted within the scope of the European Green Deal. In order for the carbon rate in the atmosphere to return to its former balance, studies on carbon footprint should be created. As a result of the studies conducted in this field, carbon emissions will be detected and precautions will be taken. In the thesis study, it was determined that the vast majority of the articles on carbon footprint were carried out around life cycle analysis. From here, it was determined that conclusions regarding carbon footprint reduction could be reached by conducting life cycle analysis. The distribution of these articles on carbon footprint by country, changes by year, other keywords used together with them, and the Q values of the published journals were examined. It was determined that 79.6% of the Q values were published at the Q1 level. From here, global publications on carbon footprint are sufficient and reliable in terms of information and content production. Since countries differ in terms of their sensitivity to climate change in terms of their development levels and geographically, studies on the subject also vary depending on these factors. However, since global climate change causes temperature increases in common for all countries, all countries should show the necessary sensitivity on the subject. In addition to these, countries where industry is developed and where the use of fossil fuels for industry continues should be at the forefront of carbon footprint studies and studies aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions. One of the goals of the European Green Deal is to ensure sustainable economy while achieving carbon zero targets and not to leave low-development countries behind in these developments. All countries globally should reduce the use of fossil fuels and ensure the transition to renewable energy sources as soon as possible. In addition to ensuring the transition to renewable energy, efficient use of resources, energy saving and the development of technologies related to these issues are required. In the examination of the data obtained in this study, it is seen that articles on carbon footprint serve the purposes of sustainable development goals. It is seen that they serve the purposes of responsible production and consumption, sustainable city and community. The purpose of responsible production and consumption can be explained by the efficient use of resources and energy saving. We can also say that carbon footprint studies have an important place in the creation of sustainable cities. A sustainable city cannot be achieved without activities such as carbon reduction, efficient use of resources, and transition to renewable energy. In this study, all these problems and solutions are examined from a holistic perspective and data is presented to guide researchers. The purpose of analyzing articles that include carbon footprint studies is to analyze the keywords of the studies that are currently available and to identify other concepts related to carbon footprint. These concepts have helped to determine the research methods in which carbon footprint studies are included or in carbon footprint studies. At the same time, the analysis of the institutions and organizations in which the articles are published is a guide in determining the quality levels of the research on the subject and the competence on the subject.