Climate change to be top agenda for Erdoğan at G20, UN
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan arrives to address the media after the cabinet meeting at the Presidential Complex in Ankara, Türkiye, on Aug. 21, 2023. (AFP Photo)


President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is set to raise issues related to climate change at the upcoming G-20 Leaders' Summit in New Delhi and the U.N. General Assembly in New York next month.

G-20 leaders are scheduled to convene in the Indian capital on Sept. 9-10 focusing on the theme, ‘One Earth, One Family, One Future.’ Here, Erdoğan will be discussing the steps Türkiye has so far taken in combatting climate change in one-on-one meetings he will hold with other world leaders.

The president will be shedding light on climate action at the 78th session of the U.N. General Assembly on Sept. 22, as well.

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.

"We will continue to work on this vital issue that concerns the common future of our world and humanity, both by fulfilling our own obligations and by taking initiative at the global level.

"We will share these issues with our interlocutors at the G-20 Summit and the U.N. General Assembly, which we will attend next month, and we will do our duty toward our own citizens and all humanity," President Erdoğan said after the Cabinet meeting on Monday.