Changing the game: Zero waste for climate action

Your excellency, Ermin Erdoğan, First Lady of the Republic of Turkey

My friend and Nairobi colleague Maimunah Mohd. Sharif, Executive Director of UN Habitat

Selwin Hart, Special Advisor to the UN Secretary-General on Climate Action

My deep thanks to First Lady Erdoğan for the kind invitation to speak at this important event.

The waste we produce is weighing down the planet. Every year we generate more than 2 billion tonnes of municipal solid waste. At least 33 per cent of this is not managed in an environmentally safe manner. This is expected to skyrocket to more than 3 billion tonnes by 2050. And in the regions where waste generation is rising rapidly, more than half of waste is currently openly dumped. Our waste has implications for the environment. For health. And for prosperity.