UN adopts Turkiye's 'zero waste' resolution

A resolution on the "zero waste" initiative presented by Türkiye to combat climate change and accelerate sustainable development plans was collectively accepted at the UN General Assembly (UNGA) on Wednesday (14 Dec).

The landmark resolution, which was presented with 105 other countries, focuses on the efforts for sustainable development through zero waste initiatives launched by the Turkish First Lady Emine Erdogan in 2017 at the "African Cultural House" event on Dec. 6 at the Presidential Palace in Ankara.

The resolution of the General Assembly also declared March 30 as International Day of Zero Waste.

The motion requires the UN chief to establish a three-year advisory board of individuals selected based on their "knowledge, experience and expertise" to promote local and national zero waste programs.

With the decision to incorporate zero waste initiatives in the next Global Waste Management Outlook report by the UN Environment Programme, the president of the UNGA made a high-level decision on "zero waste" and a "10-Year Framework Program for Sustainable Production and Consumption Models" in 2023.

According to Anadolu Agency, the resolution requests the UN. chief to invite the body's Environment Programme to include a "dedicated section on zero-waste initiatives," including activities and experiences of such initiatives.

Launched by the Ministry of Environment, Urban Planning and Climate Change under the patronage of Emine Erdogan in 2017, the Zero Waste Project has led Türkiye's tackle climate change. The initiative mainly seeks to bring the country in line with sustainable development principles, avert uncontrolled waste and leave a "cleaner, developed" country for the future generation.

The program received awards last year from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the UN-Habitat program.

It was integrated in an Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) country report in 2019 as a promising project. Recently, it was also honored by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean prior to the first lady being awarded the Climate and Development Leadership award for the project by the World Bank.

To extend its success, the Turkish first lady took the country's groundbreaking recycling scheme to the UN and signed a goodwill agreement with U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to expand the project across the world.

The project has received international attention with Guterres expressing his gratitude to Türkiye's first lady during a conference in New York in September. Guterres said waste is a major problem in today's world and that the project is vital and remarkable in this regard.

The U.N. chief calls on member countries to develop Türkiye's Zero Waste Project globally as part of the environmentalist venture, which is among the most essential issues the UN is currently grappling with.