President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan left for the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to participate in the U.N. Climate Change Conference, COP28 Thursday.
"At the summit, it is planned to exchange views at the leadership level on various issues such as environmental problems, energy, food and health, especially policies to combat climate change," Türkiye's Communications Directorate said in a statement on Wednesday.
Erdoğan will address the conference on Dec. 1, and he is also expected to hold talks with the heads of state and governments of some participating countries on the sidelines of the conference.
The UAE is set to host this year’s conference between Nov. 30 and Dec. 12, with the aim of keeping the Paris Agreement warming target of 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) alive.
Türkiye is among the countries making the most significant contribution to the Paris Climate Agreement with its 2053 net zero emissions and green development targets. Ankara works for a cleaner and greener Türkiye by implementing many projects, including a zero-waste initiative. In 2017, under the auspices of first lady Emine Erdoğan, Türkiye launched the zero-waste project to highlight the importance of eliminating waste in fighting the climate crisis.
The project has drawn international praise, with U.N. chief Antonio Guterres expressing his gratitude to the First Lady during a conference in New York last September. Last December, the U.N. General Assembly unanimously adopted a resolution on the zero waste initiative presented by Türkiye, declaring March 30 as the International Day of Zero Waste.
Erdoğan is accompanied by the first lady, as well as Minister of Environment, Urban Planning and Climate Change Mehmet Özhaseki, Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure Abdülkadir Uraloğlu, Communications Director Fahrettin Altun and Ambassador Akif Çağatay Kılıç, chief presidential adviser.
