Zero Waste is one of the COP31 presidency priorities and has its own day on 11 November, reflecting Türkiye’s national Zero Waste programme and the profile of the for this COP.
Samed Ağırbaş, president of the Zero Waste Foundation, is the Climate High-Level Champion for COP31. The Champion shapes the non-negotiated side of a COP, which is where waste, reuse and circularity questions actually get worked on.
The practical consequence for anyone in this field is that the subject has a day, a set of rooms and a Champion behind it, which is not the case at most COPs.