13.11.2026 17:12
The “Zero Waste Sustainable Living with Women Project,” implemented in cooperation with the Zero Waste Foundation and the Ministry of Family and Social Services, was introduced with a launch held within the scope of COP31. Within the scope of the project, which aims to promote the zero waste approach in households and daily life, increase women’s environmental awareness, and support their economic empowerment, it is aimed to reach at least 1 million women over 24 months through training, implementation, and communication activities.
The Zero Waste Movement, growing in line with the vision set out by Emine Erdoğan, Founder of the Zero Waste Movement, Chair of the United Nations High-Level Advisory Board of Eminent Persons on Zero Waste, and Honorary President of the Zero Waste Foundation, continues its work to ensure that environmental transformation is embraced across all segments of society and becomes an inseparable part of daily life.
THE LAUNCH WAS HELD IN THE COP31 BLUE ZONE In this context, the “Waste-Free Sustainable Living with Women Project,” prepared in cooperation with the Zero Waste Foundation and the Ministry of Family and Social Services, was introduced to the public with a launch program organized within the scope of COP31. The launch, held at the Zero Waste Forum Stage located within the Zero Waste Museum in the COP31 Blue Zone, was attended by Minister of Family and Social Services Mahinur Özdemir Göktaş and President of the Zero Waste Foundation and COP31 High-Level Climate Champion Samed Ağırbaş.
“THE CLIMATE CRISIS IS ALSO A MATTER OF JUSTICE, DEVELOPMENT AND FAMILY” Minister of Family and Social Services Mahinur Özdemir Göktaş, stating that women are among the groups most affected by the climate crisis but are also one of the most important actors in the solution, said: “When we talk about the climate today, we are actually deciding what kind of world we will live in. We are talking about how we will produce and how we will use our resources. In a sense, we are shaping our children’s lives as of today. Therefore, climate change is far beyond an environmental issue. It is a matter of justice, a matter of development, and ultimately a family matter.”
“THE ZERO WASTE MOVEMENT IS ALSO A WOMEN’S MOVEMENT” Noting that the Zero Waste Movement has turned into a global transformation under women’s leadership, Göktaş said the following:
“Türkiye is one of the countries that shows this reality to the world in the strongest way. The Zero Waste Movement, carried out under the auspices of the esteemed Emine Erdoğan, is one of the world’s strongest voices for the promise of leaving a livable planet to our children. As a woman, she believed in this movement, trusted it, and by working for years became, as it were, the pioneer of a global transformation. She founded the Zero Waste Foundation. Let us not forget that the Zero Waste Movement is a women’s movement.”
Expressing that zero waste has now become a global brand, Göktaş said: “Zero waste is present in every area of our lives. It is in minds, on streets, in households, and in neighborhoods. I sincerely thank our foundation, which strives to keep these alive, spread them, and turn them into a great movement, and the women and children who carry this movement to our neighborhoods.”
“WE HAVE IDENTIFIED CLIMATE CHANGE AS ONE OF THE FUNDAMENTAL AREAS OF OUR WOMEN’S POLICIES” Stating that they have placed women’s empowerment at the center of ministry policies, Göktaş made the following assessments:
“Under the leadership of our President, Mr. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, we have made women’s labor, knowledge, and will an essential element of development. We have paved the way for women to take a more active part in every field, from energy to technology, from industry to entrepreneurship. Our Women’s Empowerment Strategy Document and Action Plan constitute the road map for all these efforts. In our action plan, we identified the environment and climate change for the first time as one of our fundamental policy areas. Thus, we moved women from being a party affected by the climate crisis to a party that shapes the solution.”
Stating that they support women entrepreneurs to take a more active role in the green economy, Göktaş said: “We are working to make our women entrepreneurs leading actors of the green economy. Women have that potential. As long as we believe in them, as long as we open the way for them. Through cooperation, we continue to support our women entrepreneurs in the field of clean technology.”
Minister of Family and Social Services Mahinur Özdemir Göktaş “WE AIM TO REACH 1 MILLION WOMEN IN 81 PROVINCES” Emphasizing that COP31 should be a period of action, not only rhetoric, Göktaş explained the goals of the Waste-Free Sustainable Living with Women Project, implemented in cooperation with the Ministry of Family and Social Services and the Zero Waste Foundation, as follows:
“COP31 is not only in rhetoric, but in action. From now on, it is the perfect time to move from rhetoric to action. Today we are taking a new step on this path that will reach millions of women. In cooperation with our Ministry and the Zero Waste Foundation, we are implementing the Waste-Free Sustainable Living with Women Project. With this project, we are bringing together our ministry’s service network spread across 81 provinces with the knowledge and experience of our Zero Waste Foundation. Through the work we will carry out over 24 months, we aim to reach 1 million women across the country.”
Stating that the project is built on three main pillars, Göktaş said that within the scope of information and awareness activities, zero waste trainings will be organized in centers in 81 provinces, and that broader audiences will be reached through a family education program and digital infrastructure. Noting that zero waste awareness will be carried into homes through activities in which children will participate together with their families, Göktaş said, “Thus, this awareness will turn into a family legacy passed down from generation to generation.”
“WE ARE ESTABLISHING A ZERO WASTE WOMEN AMBASSADORS NETWORK IN 81 PROVINCES” Stating that the second pillar of the project is local leadership, Göktaş said: “In all 81 of our provinces, we are establishing a Zero Waste Women Ambassadors network consisting of volunteer women. Our ambassadors will increase awareness in their own circles and help spread good practices. By bringing them together regularly, we will create a common ground where they can share their experiences. Thus, we believe that a successful practice implemented in one of our provinces will also find a response in another province.”
“THE ZERO WASTE MOVEMENT HAS TRANSFORMED INTO A GLOBAL MOVEMENT THAT RESONATES IN 193 COUNTRIES” President of the Zero Waste Foundation and COP31 High-Level Climate Champion Samed Ağırbaş stated that the Zero Waste Movement began as a women’s movement in Türkiye in 2017 and has today transformed into a global movement that resonates in 193 countries.
Emphasizing that the holding of COP31 in Türkiye is an important turning point for the Zero Waste Movement, Ağırbaş said: “The United Nations has been holding COP meetings for 30 years. We are hosting the 31st as Türkiye. COP31 is marked by Zero Waste and the work carried out by Ms. Emine Erdoğan. For the first time in COP history, zero waste issues have entered among the main agenda items of the COP.”
President of the Zero Waste Foundation and COP31 High-Level Climate Champion Samed Ağırbaş “IF THE WORLD WANTS TO COMBAT CLIMATE CHANGE, IT MUST FIRST MANAGE WASTE CORRECTLY” Stating that waste management is a fundamental topic in the fight against climate change, Ağırbaş explained the approach advocated under Emine Erdoğan’s leadership with the following words:
“There is a strong view that we advocate under the leadership of Ms. Emine Erdoğan. If the world wants to combat climate change and implement sustainable policies related to climate change, it must first manage waste correctly.”
Drawing attention to the scale of the waste crisis the world faces, Ağırbaş said, “Today we are talking about major crises in the world. We are talking about a new continent in our oceans. A plastic continent… It is predicted that by 2050 and beyond, there will be more plastics than fish in our seas. Unfortunately, humanity has now reached a point where it cannot manage the waste crisis in the world and has begun discussing the waste crisis in space.”
Stating that the Zero Waste Movement began under the leadership of women and has grown today again through women’s labor, Ağırbaş recorded the following regarding the cooperation carried out with the Ministry of Family and Social Services:
“The Zero Waste Movement has a characteristic like this. When the Zero Waste Movement began in 2017, it started in homes and began as a women’s movement. The Zero Waste Movement, which started on the shoulders and backs of Turkey’s women, is today in your hands. After establishing the Zero Waste Foundation, under the leadership of our Honorable Minister, we carried out tremendous work in various fields with our Ministry of Family and Social Services.”
Mentioning the field work carried out in different regions of Turkey, Ağırbaş said, “We travel to Turkey’s 80 provinces, visit its villages, visit its neighborhoods, and meet with our citizens. In every neighborhood we go to, in many households there is the signature of our Ministry of Family and Social Services. God willing, together with this project, we aim to train 1 million women in Turkey as Zero Waste Ambassadors.”
“WE WANT TO CARRY THIS PROJECT TO DIFFERENT COUNTRIES OF THE WORLD AND TURN IT INTO A COMMON MOVEMENT OF WOMEN” Emphasizing that the goal of reaching one million women is a beginning, Ağırbaş stated that they aim to carry the project to an international dimension and said, “We see this 1 million as a beginning. In the coming period, by bringing this project to different countries of the world, we want to turn it into a movement in which the world’s women join forces together. It is possible to change and transform the world. But it is not possible for us to achieve this without women.”
Stating that zero waste awareness begins in the family, Ağırbaş drew attention to the role of women in raising children with an environmentally friendly understanding and said, “The first place where our children receive education is their mother’s lap. The second place is our families, our homes. We say that the primary school of zero waste is the family. If we want to raise our children zero-waste-compatible and environmentally friendly, we must raise awareness among our families correctly and appropriately. The most fundamental way for this is through our women.”
“WOMEN ARE THE COMMUNITY THAT STANDS FIRMEST IN THE HARDEST TIMES” Emphasizing the role of women in social solidarity, Ağırbaş said, “In Turkey’s hardest times, in the hardest times of disasters in the world, the community that stands firmest is women. In this context, I want to express my gratitude and appreciation to you.”
“THE ZERO WASTE MOVEMENT MADE AN IMPORTANT CONTRIBUTION TO TURKEY’S SECURING OF COP31” Stating that Turkey’s work in the field of environment and climate is an important part of the process leading to COP31 hosting, Ağırbaş drew attention to the leadership of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the Zero Waste Movement carried out under the auspices of Emine Erdoğan.
Ağırbaş said, “Under the leadership of our Honorable President, Turkey has achieved tremendous things in the fields of environment and climate change over the last 20 years. As a manifestation of those works, Turkey is today hosting the COP meeting. Our COP31 President, our Minister of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change Murat Kurum, is also managing the struggles on behalf of Turkey as COP31 President.”
WOMEN WILL BE ACTIVE SUBJECTS OF THE ZERO WASTE TRANSFORMATION Based on the important role of women in household consumption, shopping, food use, reuse and waste separation processes, the project aims to spread the zero waste approach throughout families and society. Positioning women not only as the target group of awareness activities but as active actors who implement environmental transformation, produce and convey it to their surroundings, the project will contribute to embedding sustainable consumption and production habits into daily life.
In this direction, it is aimed to increase women’s knowledge and awareness of zero waste, ensure efficient use of resources at the household level, prevent food waste and spread reuse habits. The project also puts forward an implementation model that supports women’s economic empowerment through zero waste-based production activities.
A ZERO WASTE WOMEN AMBASSADORS NETWORK WILL BE ESTABLISHED IN 81 PROVINCES The project, to be carried out over 24 months, consists of three main components: awareness and training, economic empowerment through zero waste, and communication and dissemination. Zero waste content will be integrated into training programs carried out at Family Support Centers (ADEM), Social Solidarity Centers (SODAM), Social Service Centers (SHM) and Multipurpose Community Centers (ÇATOM). Training related to daily life and household management will also be offered to women through the Family Education Program and the Presidency’s Distance Education Gate.
Through applied activities in which mothers and children will participate together, awareness will be created on separating waste, recognizing recyclable materials, reuse and preventing food waste. In addition, a Zero Waste Women Ambassadors Network will be established in 81 provinces on a voluntary basis, and women ambassadors will be brought together at the national level.
ZERO WASTE VALUE WILL BE ADDED TO WOMEN’S PRODUCTION Within the economic empowerment component of the project, women will be given practical training in reuse, resource efficiency and sustainable production. It is planned to develop zero waste-themed products that can be used in daily life by re-evaluating textile scraps, unused fabrics, packaging and similar materials, and to support their pilot production.
Through training for women’s cooperatives, reducing waste generation in production processes and reusing and recovering existing waste will be encouraged. Successful products that emerge will be supported to gain economic value and market potential by being included in the existing product groups of women’s cooperatives.
THE AIM IS TO REACH AT LEAST 1 MILLION WOMEN Within the communication and dissemination activities of the project, campaigns on zero waste, sustainable consumption, reuse and prevention of food waste will be carried out through social media, digital platforms and traditional media.The local activities of Zero Waste Women Ambassadors, women's good practices, and success stories will be made visible.
Products produced by women in hands-on training will be used in awareness activities and brought together with citizens through awareness points to be established in suitable provinces.
It is aimed to strengthen the project's social reach through thematic activities to be organized on special days such as World Environment Day, International Zero Waste Day, and International Women's Day.
Within the scope of the project, which will be implemented for 24 months in cooperation between the Ministry of Family and Social Services and the Zero Waste Foundation, it is aimed to reach at least 1 million women through training, implementation, and communication activities.
EMPHASIS ON ZERO WASTE AND SOCIAL TRANSFORMATION AT COP31 COP31, hosted by Türkiye with the strong will of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in the fields of environment and climate, has the quality of being an important platform where concrete practices, international cooperation, and social participation stand out in the fight against climate change.
In line with the implementation-oriented approach put forward by Murat Kurum, Minister of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change and COP31 President, who is carrying out the COP31 Presidency, Türkiye aims to implement climate action not only limited to policies and targets but in a wide area ranging from local governments to the private sector and from civil society to households.
The Zero Waste Foundation is also carrying the Zero Waste Movement, which has been brought to an international dimension under the leadership of Emine Erdoğan, further forward during the COP31 process with concrete projects, strong collaborations, and practices covering all segments of society.
“Zero Waste Sustainable Living with Women Project” aims to contribute to the spread of climate action at household and community level, the protection of resources, and the strengthening of social transformation for a sustainable future by bringing together women's knowledge, experience, and productive power with the zero waste approach.
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