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No country – not even the superpowers – can tackle the climate crisis alone. Dealing with multilateral global issues requires a multilateral approach, and COP31 in November 2026, hosted by Türkiye in partnership with Australia, is a positive step towards this goal.
Following Türkiye’s successful bid to host the Antalya City Conference, there are high hopes for greater coherence of policies, commitments and actions on the ground. Türkiye is one of the few countries where environmental goals are aligned with urban development and financing. As COP30 delegates discovered, without their own sources of revenue, the best policies and programs remain academic.
“COP31 is a great opportunity to speak,” said Samed Agirbas, President of the Zero Waste Foundation. “I hope we can have a zero-waste COP and every delegation does everything they can to make sure they fulfill the commitments they made at the last three COPs before coming to Turkey.”
The Zero Waste Foundation was present at COP30 in Belém. It actively supports Turkey’s bid to host COP 31 and demonstrates that Turkey’s zero-waste initiative has grown into a global movement with the support of First Lady Ms. Emina Erdogan. “I would like to thank Minister Murat Kurum for his environmental diplomacy, [resulting in the] Hosting the largest international event in our country’s history,” Agilbas said.
The Zero Waste Foundation also had the opportunity to meet with United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres during COP30.
“I briefed the Secretary-General on the work that the Zero Waste Foundation is doing based on the recommendations of the Zero Waste Advisory Committee that was held in October,” Agilbas said. “Since the first successful Zero Waste Forum in October 2025, we have understood the perspectives of our stakeholders – communities and businesses who actually carry out zero waste activities.
“They tell us that the world needs better zero-waste policies and, importantly, planning at a local level that can make zero-waste living a reality.”
The Zero Waste Movement has more than 100 partner organizations, including government, municipal, business, academic and civil society partners. Agilbas explained that after holding bilateral meetings and signing a memorandum of understanding, the organization is now ready to move forward. The first step is to draft the foundation’s strategic plan for 2026-2030.
“The Zero Waste Foundation strategic plan is aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs),” Agilbas said. “We need to double or even triple our efforts to help our cities and countries achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.”
The Zero Waste Foundation immediately supports the Turkish Ministry of Agriculture’s initiative to host a ministerial conference on water protection. The ministerial forum was held on November 28, attended by ministers and high-level representatives from 38 countries.
The theme of the ministerial forum is “Preventing Food and Water Waste, Owning the Future”, and Erdogan delivered a keynote speech. “We only have one planet,” she reminded the forum. “We need to take collective steps to ensure we protect our planet.”
With two zero-waste ministerial forums held in October and November last year, Istanbul has become a center for zero-waste and climate diplomacy.
“What we need to do now is encourage more countries and cities to join us in our journey to heal the planet,” Agilbas said. “We must break down the silos and barriers that prevent us from taking constructive action on the ground. Financing is critical, but let’s start at home first. The whole idea of zero waste is prevention. Let’s not waste the natural resources we need to sustain life on our planet.”
While the Belem talks fell short of the expectations of many campaigners, who urgently highlighted the loss of biodiversity and the damage caused by extreme climate events, the worst pain was the unfulfilled promise of financing for countries in the global South.
“Hosting COP31 in Türkiye is a great thing for Zero Waste Foundation as we can actively support the host country and the unique Türkiye-Australia partnership,” said Agilbas. “Tackling waste and pollution is a cornerstone of efforts to mitigate and adapt to climate change. We can make tangible changes that people want to see and feel.”
What’s more, COP 31 is hosted by the group of Western European and other rich industrialized countries. This is an opportunity to strengthen multilateral action and achieve real collaboration – if we are to connect people, planet and local action, there is no better platform than the Zero Waste Pledge.