First Lady Erdoğan attends “Drop by Drop - Zero Waste Blue” Exhibition in New York

First Lady Emine Erdoğan, the Chair of the United Nations Secretary-General’s Advisory Board of Eminent Persons on Zero Waste, attended the “Drop by Drop - Zero Waste Blue” Exhibition, co-organized in New York by the Ministry of Environment, Urbanization, and Climate Change of Türkiye and the Zero Waste Foundation.

First Lady Erdoğan, along with Minister of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change Murat Kurum, Minister of Family and Social Services Mahinur Özdemir Göktaş, UN-Habitat Executive Director Anacláudia Rossbach, COP29 President and Special Representative of the President of Azerbaijan for Climate Issues Mukhtar Babayev, Chairman of the Zero Waste Foundation Samed Ağırbaş, foreign ministers and senior representatives of international environmental organizations, toured the exhibition.

The exhibition, which featured visual and audio works highlighting the importance of water under the slogan "Are You Blue Aware?", illustrated Türkiye's efforts to protect water resources in Lakes Van, Salda, Meke, Beyşehir and Eğirdir, as well as the Gulf of İzmit.

Delivering remarks at the event, First Lady Erdoğan said: “Who would have thought that one day, humanity, which has founded civilizations, made scientific discoveries, and produced extraordinary works of art throughout history, would add a continent of garbage to the Earth, rendering our planet's blue seas unrecognizable. Unfortunately, there's a 1.6 million square kilometer garbage continent floating in the Pacific Ocean, comprised of waste like plastic bottles, plastic bags, cigarette butts, and fishing nets. This means an area twice the size of Türkiye is covered with garbage, starkly demonstrating the point we've reached and where we must stop.”

“GLOBALLY, 57 MILLION TONS OF PLASTIC WASTE ARE PRODUCED ANNUALLY”

Pointing out that humanity consumed more than 75 percent of what they consumed in the entire 20^th century in just 5 years, between 2016 and 2021, First Lady Erdoğan said: “We can't just call it a consumer frenzy. The environment, natural resources, ecosystems, and people as a whole are paying the heavy costs of this frenzy. Globally, 57 million tons of plastic waste are produced annually. Approximately 23 million tons of this pollute our lakes, rivers, and seas—that's 2,000 garbage trucks full of plastic dumped into our waters every day. It's estimated that more than 14 million tons of microplastics exist in the world's oceans. This grave threat, which we ignore because we can't see it, penetrates our food chain and ends up on our table.”

Noting that Turkish scientists who completed the 9^th National Antarctic Science Expedition last February also encountered microplastics in their studies with samples taken from the snow, First Lady Erdoğan said: “And, Antarctica is one of the most untouched continents in the world.”

Underlining that Türkiye has endeavored to find solutions to humanity's problems throughout history, First Lady Erdoğan stated that the zero-waste journey they embarked on in 2017 with pure intentions, declaring “The World is Our Common Home,” is a product of this approach.

“ZERO WASTE IS NOW A GLOBAL MOVEMENT”

Voicing her happiness over the success of their sincere efforts over the past 8 years, First Lady Erdoğan recalled the Zero Waste resolution, presented by Türkiye and adopted by the UN General Assembly as well as the Global Commitment to Zero Waste, strongly supported by the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres.

Noting that they declared the March 30^th as the “International Day of Zero Waste,” First Lady Erdoğan said that they established the Advisory Board on Zero Waste within the UN and the Zero Waste Foundation in Türkiye.

“I am happy to say that Zero Waste is now a global movement. In 2019, we launched the Zero Waste Blue movement with the vision that ‘water is our shared source of life.’ To date, we have removed 285,000 tons of marine litter, equivalent to 22,000 truckloads of waste, from our shores and seas. With 551 Blue Flag beaches, we are the third country with the most Blue Flag beaches in the world. That’s not all; we launched the ‘Water Efficiency Campaign’ in 2023. In a world where more than 2 billion people lack access to safe drinking water, we consider water efficiency efforts a duty to humanity,” First Lady Erdoğan said.

“Today, the place where water is most expensive in the world is Gaza, because they pay the price for a glass of water with human lives. Unfortunately, we are in a very dark era where water can be used as a tool of genocide. Since October 7, 2023, Israel has targeted water infrastructure in its attacks on Gaza. Water pipelines, treatment plants, wells, and 85% of the infrastructure are unusable. Palestinians have to walk long distances every day to meet their daily water needs. Sometimes they are killed in missile strikes on water queues before they can even bring water back to their families. Images of small children struggling to carry water containers heavier than their own bodies are truly a stain on humanity. Out of thirst, people have to drink water unfit for human consumption. I believe there is not a single moral, legal, humanitarian, or ethical red line left uncrossed in Gaza,” First Lady Erdoğan said.

At the event, Australia’s Minister for Climate Change and Energy Chris Bowen signed the Global Commitment to Zero Waste.