Two high-level panels, United Nations Headquarters, New York.
Session 1 — Zero Waste, Climate Action on the Road to COP31 45 minutes This session sets out the direct link between zero waste practice and climate outcomes on the road to COP31. Speakers bring perspectives from municipal zero waste delivery, community-led environmental action, and the UN environment system. The panel positions zero waste as a governance issue, not a technical afterthought, central to the climate agenda young people are building toward Antalya. Speakers • Samed Agirbas — Chairman, Zero Waste Foundation • Sally Higgins — title to be confirmed • Safrina Irungu — Peer Educator, Mathare Roots Initiative, Kenya • GDD representative — name and title to be confirmed • Steven Setiawan — UNEP Children and Youth Major Group (CYMG) Moderator: Anais Marie Laurence Clermont, IAAI GloCha, Austria Session 2 — Leaving No One Behind on the Road to COP31 45 minutes This session examines who is included, and who is left out, as zero waste and climate action scale toward COP31. Speakers bring perspectives from Indigenous-led conservation, community organizing, and international youth advisory structures. The panel grounds the leave-no-one-behind principle in concrete practice, from local land stewardship to global youth representation. Speakers • Damaris Looseyia — Mara Siana Camp, Masai Mara, Kenya • Elizabeth Espinosa Conejo — Otavalango Centre, Otavalo, Ecuador • Shadrack Otieno — Nane Experience CBO, Kibera Informal Settlement, Kenya • Farzana Faruk Jhumu — UNICEF / UN Secretary-General's Youth Advisory Board • Trevor Premack — The Mustard Seed Street Church, Canada Moderator: Linda Geggie, CRFAIR, Canada
