COP31 climate champion Samed Ağırbaş urges global support for local climate projects

Türkiye is seeking to bring locally developed climate solutions to the global agenda at the upcoming 31st Conference of the Parties (COP31) summit. Samed Ağırbaş, president of the Zero Waste Foundation and COP31 High-Level Climate Champion, called for greater international support to turn municipal projects into concrete action.

Speaking at the "Towards COP31: Local Climate Action Policy Dialogue," Ağırbaş named financing difficulties, limited project-development capacity and data gaps as major obstacles facing local authorities. "Local projects are ready; the world needs to pave the way for these projects," he said. Workshops on zero waste, the environment and climate change are being held across Türkiye's 81 provinces. Their findings are expected to contribute to a "Local Climate Action Call for COP31," which will be presented to the international community in Antalya.

Ağırbaş also cited Türkiye's zero-waste initiative, launched in 2017 under the leadership of first lady Emine Erdoğan. He said it had helped raise the country's recycling rate from 13% to nearly 40% over nine years, while 90 million tons of waste had been returned to the economy. He added that climate action would not be sustainable if it overlooked vulnerable households struggling with energy bills or displaced families.