A Turkish environmental organisation has struck a new partnership with London’s climate action network, part of a wider push by Ankara to build international cooperation before it hosts the COP31 summit. The agreement, signed in August, links Turkish expertise in waste reduction and resource efficiency with a global network of climate actors based in the UK capital.
The Zero Waste Foundation, which leads Türkiye’s zero waste programme, signed a cooperation protocol with London Climate Action Week (LCAW) on 17 August, ten days after publishing a book examining how zero waste principles can be applied to scientific research in the Arctic and Antarctic. Together, the two developments form part of a broader effort to connect Türkiye’s environmental initiatives with international climate diplomacy as the country prepares to host COP31.
The protocol was signed by Samed Ağırbaş, President of the Zero Waste Foundation and a COP31 High-Level Climate Champion, and Nick Henry, Climate Action Founder and CEO. It commits both sides to closer knowledge exchange and joint initiatives on climate action, zero waste and the circular economy. LCAW itself brings together representatives from government, cities, business, finance, academia and civil society, giving the Foundation a direct route into that international network.
“After this cooperation protocol, I hope we will carry out strong work and organize joint events at COP31 and London Climate Action Week,” Ağırbaş said.
The agreement follows the 7 August launch of “Zero Waste in the Polar Regions”, a book prepared jointly with the Polar Research Institute of TÜBİTAK, the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Türkiye. The publication brings together 18 articles by scientists who have taken part in polar expeditions, and applies zero waste thinking to research conducted in some of the planet’s most remote and environmentally sensitive locations.
Applying zero waste thinking to polar science
Rather than focusing solely on waste collection, the book examines how scientific expeditions are planned and run, from the use of materials and resources to the management of energy, water and logistics. Its central argument is that waste should be reduced before it is generated, with resources used as efficiently as possible to limit the environmental footprint of research work carried out in the Arctic and Antarctic.
The publication frames the polar regions as key indicators of global climate change, arguing that environmental shifts recorded there carry consequences that extend well beyond the ice sheets themselves. That framing is intended to give the research relevance to audiences and policymakers far removed from the poles.
Mehmet Fatih Kacır, Türkiye’s Minister of Industry and Technology, said the book drew together two national programmes that both began in 2017. “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.
“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,” Kacır added.
The zero waste programme referenced by Kacır was founded by Emine Erdoğan, who also chairs the United Nations High-Level Advisory Board on Zero Waste and serves as Honorary President of the Zero Waste Foundation. The polar research book is described as reflecting that wider vision, extending an initiative first developed domestically into a scientific context with international reach.
A wider diplomatic backdrop
Both the book and the London protocol arrive as Türkiye prepares for a significant role in international climate diplomacy: hosting COP31. Organisers say the summit provides a broader backdrop to the cooperation, even though the immediate, practical focus of the new partnership is on exchange between the Zero Waste Foundation and the LCAW network rather than the summit itself.
Taken together, the two announcements are intended to show how a domestic environmental programme, initially concerned with waste management, has expanded into scientific research and now into international partnership building. Organisers describe the aim as connecting scientific research, resource efficiency and circular economy thinking with international climate action, rather than treating zero waste as simply a matter of recycling or waste disposal.
For London’s climate community, the agreement offers a formal channel to Turkish expertise built up over several years of national policy work and scientific expeditions. For Türkiye, it offers a platform in one of the world’s established climate action hubs ahead of a summit it will host. Officials on both sides have framed the cooperation as a starting point, with further joint activity expected to be developed in the run-up to COP31 and future editions of London Climate Action Week.
No further details of specific joint events have yet been announced, though both signatories have indicated that additional cooperation is expected to follow the protocol in the coming months.
