A large digital billboard in New York’s Times Square promotes Türkiye’s hosting of the upcoming UN Climate Change Conference (COP31).
Marking nine years of environmental impact, the Zero Waste Movement is channeling its global momentum toward COP31 under the theme “From 0 to COP31: Together for the World,” an initiative spearheaded by First Lady Emine Erdoğan and coordinated by the Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change.
The theme was chosen to mark Türkiye’s hosting of the 31st Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Antalya, in November 2026.
The 10 priority themes of COP31’s action agenda and the Zero Waste movement are intended to serve as a global model in the areas of recycling and methane reduction.
The Zero Waste movement, which took its first steps in 2017, is included among the 2035 global implementation and climate targets and has evolved into a global environmental movement recognized by the U.N. under the slogan “the world is our common home”.
At the UN General Assembly in 2022, a resolution led by Türkiye as the main sponsor and co-sponsored by 105 nations designated March 30 as International Zero Waste Day.
During the 78th session of the U.N. General Assembly, at the “Towards a Global Zero Waste Movement” event organized at Türkevi in New York under the leadership of Emine Erdoğan, President Erdoğan was the first to sign the “Global Zero Waste Declaration of Goodwill.”
The declaration was made available for online signing on a website and had become a platform where more than 459,000 Zero Waste volunteers from 136 countries had signed the declaration of goodwill as of Sept. 25. In addition, more than 50 spouses of leaders, high-level representatives of international organizations, and foreign ministers also signed the Global Zero Waste Declaration of Goodwill.
Since 2017, the movement has enabled Türkiye to achieve significant environmental benefits and savings, particularly in energy efficiency, greenhouse gas mitigation, and landfill reduction.
By the end of 2025, 90 million metric tons of waste had been recycled, contributing 365 billion Turkish Liras to the economy, 613 million trees were conserved from being cut and 180 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions were mitigated.
Additionally, while crews successfully cleared 375,000 metric tons of marine debris through the Zero Waste Blue campaign, over 326 million plastic, glass, and aluminum containers were recovered as of Sept. 25 under the Deposit-Return System (DOA) launched on July 1.
The movement has been honored with seven international awards.
