First Lady calls for access to climate funds at COP31

The First Lady, an environmental engineer, spoke at a high-level meeting of leaders’ spouses on the Global Zero Waste Alliance at the COP31 climate summit in Antalya. She attended at the invitation of Turkish First Lady Emine Erdoğan, who hosted the meeting.

Bektaş Erhürman thanked Emine Erdoğan “for her pioneering work to strengthen the Zero Waste movement globally and for bringing us together to address climate change, an issue that concerns the shared future of humanity”. She said she was honoured to take part as an environmental engineer.

“Climate change is no longer a prediction about the future. It is a reality we are living with today,” she said.

Bektaş Erhürman said the Eastern Mediterranean was among the regions hardest hit by climate change. She described the disproportionate impact on small island communities such as Cyprus, which contribute relatively little to global emissions, as a matter of climate justice.

“Time is critical,” she said, calling for countries to share expertise and technology on water management, sustainable agriculture and making towns and cities more resilient to climate change.

“Zero Waste is one of the approaches we must take seriously if we are to protect our natural resources and leave a more liveable world for future generations,” she said.

Bektaş Erhürman said North Cyprus should prioritise separating waste at source, improving recycling infrastructure and encouraging reuse. She said municipalities would play a central role and could draw on Türkiye’s experience in putting zero-waste policies into practice.

She expressed the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus’s support for the alliance and called for women to have an equal role in shaping and implementing climate policies and in making decisions.

Presidential diplomacy and foreign relations adviser İpek Borman and presidential environment adviser İbrahim Alkan accompanied her at the meeting.