Emine Erdoğan, Turkish first lady and Chair of the United Nations Advisory Board of Eminent Persons on Zero Waste, attended programs in New York focused on children, climate and development.
Emine Erdoğan accompanied President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan during his official visit to New York, where he traveled to attend the 81st U.N. General Assembly.
During her time in the city, Emine Erdoğan attended a series of events and programs and also held meetings with several leaders’ wives at the Turkish House (Türkevi).
President Erdoğan and the first lady arrived at the Turkish House in New York on Sept. 21, where they were warmly welcomed by citizens holding Turkish flags.
Emine Erdoğan’s first program in New York was the opening event of New York Climate Week, held at an event venue, with the Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change and the Zero Waste Foundation among its main partners.
Speaking at the event, the first lady said climate change is one of the most visible consequences of the heavy burden human activities have placed on the Earth.
She said the Zero Waste Project has turned individuals from “helpless observers” of the climate crisis into “leading actors” in finding solutions, demonstrating how seemingly small behavioral changes can evolve into a social culture when widely adopted and into a lasting system when supported by the right policies.
She also stressed that establishing infrastructure to make sustainable choices easier, designing longer-lasting, repairable and reusable products, developing technologies that enable circular production and fostering international cooperation are “our shared responsibility.”
First lady Erdoğan attended the “Invisible Architecture: Building Safe Digital Systems for Children – Advancing International Standards and Shared Responsibility,” event held on the sidelines of the 81st U.N. General Assembly under her patronage and in cooperation with the Ministry of Family and Social Services, UNICEF and the U.N. Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence Against Children.
She walked from the Turkish House to U.N. headquarters for the event, where she brought attention to how children today are being targeted for their minds and attention, reduced to a target audience defined by their user profiles.
The responsibility for protecting children, she stressed, goes beyond parents and must be shared by society as a whole. “We must build a healthy digital ecosystem and ensure that safety is the starting point of the design of digital systems, rather than a feature added afterward,” she said.
She also called for countries to move beyond separate national regulations and join forces in holding technology companies accountable.
“Rather than differing national practices, we should develop common global standards,” Erdoğan said, calling for those standards to be established under the U.N. and supported by regular monitoring and reporting mechanisms. She also urged stronger accountability for technology companies and digital platforms, saying they should share responsibility for protecting children.
Queen Mathilde of Belgium, Family and Social Services Minister Mahinur Özdemir Göktaş, the first ladies of Gambia, Serbia, Sierra Leone, Lithuania, Burundi, Kenya, Guatemala, Senegal, Romania, Chile, Lebanon and Canada, UNICEF Child Protection Director Sheema Sen Gupta, Dr. Najat Maalla M’jid, U.N. special representative of the Secretary-General on Violence Against Children, and Ahmet Yiğit Başoğlu, child rights coordinator for UNICEF Türkiye at the Ministry of Family and Social Services, also delivered speeches at the event.
The event was also attended by the first ladies of North Macedonia and Kyrgyzstan, Justice Minister Akın Gürlek, minister of Health Kemal Memişoğlu, Zero Waste Foundation Chair Samed Ağırbaş, editors-in-chief of television channels and newspapers, and numerous other guests.
Emine Erdoğan followed President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s address to the 81st U.N. General Assembly from the chamber.
After the speech, she posted on social media, describing President Erdoğan as “the voice of justice” and saying she hoped his call for a world founded on peace, dignity and fairness would resonate with the conscience of the international community.
At U.N. headquarters, she also took part in the International Energy Agency’s High-Level Energy Transition Dialogue Meeting, where she highlighted the growing impact of climate change, from record temperatures to forest fires, floods and storms.
These developments are being driven by rising energy demand and greenhouse gas emissions fueled by ever-growing consumption, she said, urging people to reconsider how they use resources and the consequences of unlimited consumption.
“Our primary concern should be to move away from the throwaway culture shaped around single-use products,” Erdoğan said. “For the prosperity of all of us and intergenerational justice, we must transition to a culture of sustainability centered on long-lasting and durable products.”
Türkiye ranks fifth in Europe and 11th worldwide in installed renewable energy capacity, Erdoğan said, adding that the country aims to raise its combined solar and wind capacity to 120,000 megawatts by 2035.
The goal is to produce clean energy with as little waste as possible, she said, adding that Türkiye plans to further advance its zero-waste approach as part of the action agenda for COP31, which it will host in November.
“Zero waste is the most powerful path toward opening the door to genuine transformation in every area, from production to consumption,” she said.
Erdoğan sent a message to the opening of the Sustainable Development Impact Meetings organized by the World Economic Forum in New York.
Current production and consumption systems are not sustainable enough to carry humanity into the future, she said, describing a planet that “resembles a plundered mine,” oceans that “cannot breathe” and cities struggling to cope with their waste.
“The circular economy is not one of the options before us; it is a necessity for our future,” she said.
Moving toward a circular economy means strengthening sustainable development, expanding recycling, improving waste management and turning to renewable energy sources, Erdoğan said. She added that zero waste is a key tool for achieving these goals.
At the Turkish House, Erdoğan met with several first ladies, including Rosangela Lula da Silva, first lady of Brazil, Fatima Maada Bio, first lady of Sierra Leone, and Rachel Ruto, first lady of Kenya.
She also met with professor Jeffrey Sachs, president of the U.N. Sustainable Development Solutions Network.
Erdoğan accompanied President Erdoğan at events marking “100 Years of Friendship: Türkiye-United States” and events organized by the Turkish American National Steering Committee (TASC), the Union of International Democrats (UID), the Independent Industrialists and Businessmen Association (MÜSIAD) and the U.S. Council of Muslim Organizations (USCMO).
