Istanbul Encouraging measures to reduce waste generation is one of Turkey's priority agendas for COP31, the United Nations conference on climate change that will take place in the city of Antalya in November.
The Turkish presidency of the summit wants to halve global waste growth by 2035. The objective is part of the so-called Action Agenda, with voluntary measures to engage the private sector and governments in the fight against global warming.
Trash is not one of the main culprits of the climate crisis, caused mainly by the burning of fossil fuels to generate energy. Even so, the contribution of waste is not negligible.
Advertising
In 2019, the sector released 2.3 billion tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e), the standard measure of greenhouse gases, into the atmosphere. This is equivalent to 4% of global emissions that year and twice that of aviation pollution, which accounted for 2% in the same period.
The data is from the most recent report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, published in 2023.
Waste causes large emissions of methane (CH4), a greenhouse gas about 30 times more powerful than CO2. Methane stays in the atmosphere for ten years, while carbon dioxide stays for up to a century.
Advertising
These characteristics make quickly cutting waste emissions a shortcut to containing the increase in Earth's temperature in the short term.
C-Level
A newsletter with exclusive information for those who need to make decisions
"Zero waste is not about stopping generating waste, because we don't eat banana peels. When we talk about circularity, we are referring to a situation in which, before starting any work, we need to think about how to discard, minimize or reuse waste", says Christian Mensah, advisor to the COP31 climate champion, a position held by businessman Samed Agirbas.
The role of the climate champion is to mobilize companies, industries and social organizations, in addition to listening to the demands of these agents and transmitting them to the conference presidency.
"Until now, the world only sees waste as trash, not as a resource. We always think about how to get rid of trash, never about how to use it," says Mensah, who served as head of intergovernmental relations for the United Nations human settlements program.
ISTANBUL PLATFORM
During COP31, Turkey intends to leverage the so-called Istanbul Platform. The initiative wants to bring together existing solutions to reduce waste, but which are spread across different areas.
Advertising
The mechanism was presented during a forum held in June by the Zero Waste Foundation, created in 2023 by the Turkish first lady, Emine Erdogan, and currently chaired by Agirbas. The organization, in fact, is one of the country's showcases for the waste sector.
Istanbul aims to become the world capital of zero waste and attract ten international organizations in the field in the next five years. Turkey, on the other hand, is one of the largest plastic producers on the planet.
"The idea is to launch a declaration during the COP to endorse the Istanbul Platform, which all countries will be able to sign," Mensah tells Folha. He claims that Turkey is taking steps towards reducing the use of plastic.
The waste agenda is not expected to be formally negotiated in Antalya. The conference process requires consensus between representatives from almost 200 countries, and the Turkish presidency wants to advance the issue outside of diplomacy. This year, Australia will be in charge of the negotiations, in an unprecedented partnership in the history of climate conferences.
Asked whether it would not be necessary to address the issue diplomatically at the COP, Mensah says that this can only be decided if the countries are aware of the discussion.
Advertising
"We have targets for the waste area, but it's not like we're going to negotiate anything, because this will be a COP for implementation," he states. The last conference, held in Belém (PA), also used the theme of implementation, but brought few practical advances.
"For now, waste remains on the Action Agenda, so we have control over it. If we take it to the negotiation room, what will happen? A new Paris Agreement", he says.
Signed by 195 countries in 2015 in the French capital, the treaty set the goal of containing global warming to 1.5°C, to avoid the worst consequences of climate change. However, the agreement depends on voluntary commitments from countries, which fall far short of what is necessary to contain the problem. As a result, the 1.5°C limit will be breached this decade, and devastating effects are expected.
“If it's an implementation COP, we don't want to introduce new things to delay progress,” says Mensah.
Unlike previous editions, the summit hosted in Türkiye will not be required to address thorny topics. COP29, for example, needed to update the global climate finance target, one of the most sensitive topics at the conferences.
Advertising
Mensah says he defends a plan for each country to gradually reduce its waste, in addition to mobilizing new sources of capital. For the COP31 advisor, taxing companies whose products generate high amounts of waste would be a viable path.
"Regulation is necessary for everyone to play the same game. Some companies generate waste that can be used in other companies' products, and we need to create a synergy to transfer waste between actors", he states. "By using banana peels to generate energy, for example, you reduce methane emissions and also create opportunities for the economy."
