Türkiye has moved to deepen its role in international climate diplomacy, signing a new cooperation agreement in London and publishing a book on polar research, as the country prepares to host COP31. The two developments, both unveiled in August, tie Türkiye’s domestic zero waste programme and its Arctic and Antarctic science work into London’s international climate action network.
The agreement was signed between The Zero Waste Foundation and London Climate Action Week (LCAW), an annual gathering that draws participants from government, cities, business, finance, academia, civil society and local communities. The protocol commits both sides to closer cooperation on climate action, zero waste and the circular economy, and comes ten days after the Foundation launched a new book examining zero waste practices in the polar regions.
For a general audience, the significance lies less in the technical detail of waste management than in the diplomatic signal: with COP31 on the horizon, Türkiye is positioning its zero waste initiative, first launched nationally in 2017, as a contribution to global climate policy rather than a purely domestic environmental programme.
A London agreement ahead of COP31
The cooperation protocol was signed by Samed Ağırbaş, President of the Zero Waste Foundation and COP31 High-Level Climate Champion, and Nick Henry, Climate Action Founder and CEO. It establishes an institutional partnership intended to strengthen knowledge exchange, joint initiatives and international dialogue between the two organisations on zero waste and circular economy issues.
Speaking after the signing, Ağırbaş said: “After this cooperation protocol, I hope we will carry out strong work and organize joint events at COP31 and London Climate Action Week.”
The agreement gives Türkiye’s zero waste and circular economy experience a direct link to LCAW’s international network at a moment when the country is preparing to take on a higher-profile diplomatic role. COP31 provides the wider backdrop to the partnership, though officials say the immediate focus is on practical exchange between the Foundation and the LCAW network rather than on the summit itself.
Organisers describe the combination of scientific research, resource efficiency and circular economy thinking as an attempt to broaden how zero waste is understood internationally, moving the concept beyond recycling and waste collection towards wider questions of how resources are used and managed.
Polar research brought into the zero waste programme
The London agreement follows the 7 August launch of a book titled “Zero Waste in the Polar Regions”, produced jointly by the Zero Waste Foundation and the Polar Research Institute of TÜBİTAK, Türkiye’s Scientific and Technological Research Council. The book applies zero waste principles to scientific research carried out in the Arctic and Antarctic.
It contains 18 articles written by scientists who have taken part in polar expeditions, covering the scientific, technical, administrative and communication dimensions of applying zero waste approaches in extreme environments. Rather than focusing solely on waste collection, the book examines how scientific activity is planned, how materials and resources are used, and how energy, water and logistics are managed during polar research.
Its central argument is that waste should be reduced before it is generated, that resources should be used efficiently, and that the environmental footprint of scientific expeditions should be limited from the outset. The publication also frames the polar regions as critical indicators of global climate change, arguing that environmental changes recorded there carry consequences that extend well beyond the Arctic and Antarctic themselves.
Mehmet Fatih Kacır, Minister of Industry and Technology of Türkiye, said the book brought together two national initiatives that both began in 2017: the zero waste programme and Türkiye’s polar research expeditions. “The Zero Waste initiative launched under the leadership of H.E. Emine Erdoğan has grown step by step from a national initiative into a global one,” he said.
Kacır added: “At the same time, we began organising scientific expeditions to Antarctica and the Arctic under the auspices of the President of the Republic of Türkiye, enabling Turkish scientists to strengthen the country’s presence in polar research. Through this book, these two initiatives have come together.”
A wider strategy of environmental diplomacy
Both developments trace back to the zero waste vision advanced by H.E. Emine Erdoğan, who founded the Zero Waste Movement, chairs the United Nations High-Level Advisory Board on Zero Waste, and serves as Honorary President of the Zero Waste Foundation. Since 2017, the initiative has expanded from a domestic policy programme into a framework Türkiye now presents internationally, including through scientific publications and partnerships such as the one signed with LCAW.
Taken together, the polar research book and the London cooperation protocol illustrate how Türkiye is attempting to link disparate strands of environmental policy, from Antarctic science to urban resource management, ahead of hosting COP31. Officials involved in both projects have been careful to stress that the zero waste approach they are promoting is not limited to recycling or conventional waste management, but extends to how resources, energy and logistics are handled across sectors as different as international scientific expeditions and climate diplomacy.
For now, the practical work will centre on the relationship between the Zero Waste Foundation and the LCAW network, with both sides indicating that further joint events are expected around COP31 and future editions of London Climate Action Week. The polar research book, meanwhile, is intended to serve as a reference point for scientists and policymakers examining how zero waste principles can be applied in some of the most remote and environmentally sensitive regions on Earth.
