First Lady Emine Erdoğan will chair the second meeting of the Advisory Board of Eminent Persons on Zero Waste to spread the zero waste project on a global scale on World Environment Day on Wednesday.
The meeting, which will take place in a video conference format, will focus on several issues, including the work for the global mobilization of the activities of the Zero Waste initiative, pioneered by the Turkish first lady.
The initiative received the support of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who became one of the first leaders to sign the zero waste goodwill declaration at the 78th General Assembly session in New York.
The declaration of goodwill, initially signed by the first lady and the U.N. chief, has been endorsed by the spouses of nearly 30 heads of state, including those from Qatar, France, South Korea, Paraguay and Cuba.
The advisory board consists of 12 members, including Deputy Chair Jose Manuel Moller, the Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Algramo, the first ladies of Sierra Leone and Suriname, academics and more.
Last year, the U.N. General Assembly formally recognized the importance of zero-waste initiatives and proclaimed March 30 as the International Day of Zero Waste, to be observed annually beginning in 2023.
This year, in March, Guterres thanked the Turkish first lady for agreeing to chair the Advisory Board of Eminent Persons on Zero Waste.
The Zero Waste Project, initiated under the patronage of Erdoğan in 2017, has been honored with numerous awards to date. In 2018, the project received the "Zero Waste, Zero Hunger" award from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
In 2021, the project was recognized with the "UNDP Sustainable Development Goals Award" by the United Nations Development Programme and the "Waste Wise Cities Global Champion Award" by the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat). In 2022, it received the "Mediterranean Parliamentary Assembly Award" (PAW Awards) and the "Climate and Development Leadership Award" presented by the World Bank.
The project, which has become a global brand due to its efforts to reduce waste generation, promote recycling and conserve resources aiming to make Türkiye a clean, developed and sustainable country, was nominated on behalf of Türkiye and was also honored at the 16th General Assembly Meeting held in Dubai on March 9-10, 2022.
