UN Zero Waste Board held 1st in-person meeting

ISTANBUL

The U.N. Zero Waste Advisory Board, chaired by Turkish first lady Emine Erdoğan, has convened in their first official face-to-face meeting in Istanbul, following their initial online meeting held in July.

During the meeting moderated by Maimunah Mohd Sharif, the executive director of the United Nations Human Settlements Program (U.N.-Habitat), the first lady expressed her profound admiration for the board members' remarkable achievements and outstanding efforts in the realm of the zero waste initiative aiming to alleviate waste burden.

Erdoğan noted that the ongoing climate crisis has transformed from being a mere future projection to a tangible and observable global reality, citing that the research findings that emphasize a significant connection between climate change and the consumption and production habits of modern society.

Emphasizing the rapid depletion of finite resources and the staggering annual generation of over 2 billion tons of household solid waste, she also pointed out the forecasted doubling of this figure in the near future. Erdoğan stressed the urgency of considering the environmental footprint left by overconsumption and the disposal of surplus products.

"Through this project, we have contributed $3.5 billion to our economy in six years, equivalent to removing over 1 million vehicles from traffic and preventing the emission of a substantial 4.9 million tons of greenhouse gases annually."

Recalling that Türkiye presented the Zero Waste Resolution to the U.N. General Assembly last year in order to share its experiences and spread them on an international scale, Erdoğan emphasized that the strong support for the resolution, co-sponsored by 105 countries, points to the sensitivity of the issue at the global level.