Waste management will be one of the biggest challenges that cities will face in the coming years, the head of the UN Human Settlements Program (UN-Habitat) said.

In an interview with TRT World, Maimunah Mohd Sharif, executive director of the UN-Habitat, said by 2030, 70% of people will be living in cities.

She said the world should start taking some early precautions, in terms of economy and changing lifestyle.

Stressing that COVID-19 pandemic is “a wakeup call” for the world, she said: “I would like to take the COVID-19 pandemic as an opportunity for us to rethink, and for the future green development, and sustainable urbanization in implementing a new urban agenda”.

Turkey's first lady Emine Erdogan received the Waste Wise Cities Global Champion award from the head of UN-Habitat on Wednesday for her contributions to the Waste Wise Cities initiative and healthy environment as well as Turkey's Zero Waste Project that she led.

Sharif said she was honored to present the award to Erdogan./aa