Turkish first lady to join UN session on 1st Int’l Zero Waste Day

First lady Emine Erdoğan is set to visit New York next week to attend a special session on March 30, International Zero Waste Day, as the special guest of the United Nations Secretariat General.

At the event, Erdoğan is expected to call for the Zero Waste Project, implemented in Türkiye to lessen the negative impact of waste on climate change, to be extended worldwide.

The Zero Waste Project, initiated by the Ministry of Environment, Urbanization, and Climate Change in 2017 under Emine Erdoğan, aims to control waste within sustainable development principles and leave a cleaner and developed country for future generations.

First lady Erdoğan signed the global zero waste goodwill declaration during a meeting with U.N. secretary-general Antonio Guterres in New York during the 77th U.N. General Assembly meetings held in September 2022 as part of the fight against the bilateral consequences of climate change.

Then, at the U.N. General Assembly held on Dec. 15, 2022, the Zero Waste Project on “promoting zero waste practices to achieve sustainable development goals” presented by Türkiye and 105 other countries to the 77th U.N. General Assembly was unanimously accepted. With this decision, the General Assembly declared March 30 International Zero Waste Day.

U.N. Habitat Executive Director Maimunah Mohd Sharif visited Türkiye on Feb. 24, following the deadly earthquakes, and offered condolences to Erdoğan and the Turkish people after the ”massive natural disaster.” Sharif also invited Emine Erdoğan to attend the U.N. Secretary-General Guteress’ March 30 International Zero Waste Day events, which will be held for the first time.

Emine Erdoğan, who will address the U.N. in a special session with Guterres and Sharif, will explain the details of the Zero Waste Project implemented in Türkiye and call for the widespread implementation of the project in the world within the scope of the relationship between sustainable waste management and climate change. Along with the first lady, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu is also expected to attend the International Zero Waste Day events.

In addition to the General Assembly declaring March 30 as International Zero Waste Day, U.N. Secretary-General Guterres will encourage local and national zero waste initiatives based on knowledge, experience, and expertise, taking into account gender balance and fair geographical representation, placing a request to set up an advisory board on the subject consisting of individuals with three-year terms.

With the decision to include zero waste initiatives in the following Global Waste Management Outlook report of the U.N. Environment Program, the request for a high-level meeting focusing on the 10-year ”Framework Program for Sustainable Production and Consumption Models” was requested by the president of the U.N. General Assembly.

After the U.N. General Assembly declared March 30 as International Zero Waste Day, first lady Erdoğan wrote on her social media account, “The Zero Waste movement is the manifestation of a future dominated by blue and green that I dream of for our children. Seeing the point reached by our global Zero Waste ideal is indescribable.”

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