Youth Policy Lab
Interactive Workshops for emerging youth policy leadersOur Framing Question
"How might we increase both the number and capacity of youth environmental leaders in countries facing the most significant environmental challenges to contribute to effective policy changes at the subnational, national, regional, and international levels?"The purpose of the policy lab is to support youth leaders to make positive and transformative contributions to environmental policy at the local, national, and international levels. In particular, we seek to highlight and further empower youth who have shaped the policy debate to include issues relevant to youth and elevate the positions of countries that are most vulnerable to critical environmental challenges like climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution.
In fall 2022, we'll gather expert speakers from the 10 Billion Strong community who have shared youth voices at the UN, in climate change negotiations, in National Action Plans & more! They have been recognized for their contributions to add the perspective of youth and issues related to youth and the environment.
The workshops will bring together youth leaders from West Africa, East Africa, South Asia, and Southeast Asia. We will start with knowledge-sharing from our speakers and then for breakout groups for participants to get targeted advice on how they can advance policy discussions in their context.Session #1 is scheduled for:
October 25, 2022
10-11:00AM - UTC
Our Fall 2022 Expert Speakers - Session 1
Czarina Panopia, Philippines
National Lead of No Plastic in Nature Initiative of the World Wide Fund for Nature - Philippines
- EE 30 under 30 Class of 2020 - North American Association of Environmental Education (NAAEE)
- Member, Biodiversity Conservation Society of the Philippines
- Master in Environment and Natural Resources Management
Jolly Nguyen, Vietnam
Founder, EVOL Vietnam
UN Women Asia & Pacific 30 for 2030
Non Executive Director, ASEAN-Australia Strategic Youth Partnership
- Country Lead of Erasmus+
- YSEALI 2019 in Sustainable Environment and Social Enterprise
- Rotary Positive Peace Asia 2022.
Garvita Gulhati, India
Founder, Why Waste?
- Ashoka Young Changemaker, Global Changemaker
- EE 30 under 30 - Changemaker - 2017 -North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE)
- Forbes 30 under 30
- UN Young Climate Leader
Shohail Saifullah
Youth Programme Coordinator at International Centre for Climate Change and Development (ICCCAD)
- Coordinator, 50 Percent
- Youth Speaker, COP26
- Youth Capacity Trainer
Session #2 is scheduled for:
October 28, 2022
1-2:00PM - UTCOur Fall 2022 Expert Speakers - Session 2
James Refugio, Philippines
Executive Director, Act Now For Ranow
- Regional Secretary, Junior Chamber International - Bicol Region
- Regional Treasurer, Association of Law Schools of the Philippines - South Luzon
Kevin Lunzalu, Kenya
Co-founder of the Kenyan Youth Biodiversity Network
- Top 100 Young African Conservation Leaders, 2021
- Member of the Young African Leadership Initiative
- Graduate Fellow at UC Santa Cruz
Abdullah Al Yousuf, Bangladesh
Judiciary of Bangladesh
- Senior Judicial Magistrate, Bangladesh Judiciary
- Special Magistrate of Environment, Bangladesh Judiciary
- Member, Environmental Justice Committee, Supreme Court of Bangladesh
- Adjunct Faculty, Institute of Chartered Accountants of Bangladesh
- Former Civil and Family Court Judge, Bangladesh Judiciary
- Former Attorney of Law, Supreme Court of Bangladesh
- Former Lecturer at World University of Bangladesh
Derrick Mugisha, Uganda
Founder & CEO Biodiversity Hub International
- Top 100 Young African Conservation Leaders
- We Got This Fellow
- Former Judge of Young Champions of the Earth
- GEF, Young Voices of the Earth
- Coalition Wild Fellow
- Nationl Coordinator Uganda Youth Biodiversity Network
- Regional Director Africa, Earth Day.Org
Shougat Nazbin Khan, Bangladesh
UN Young Leader for SDGs
- Chevening Scholar
- USAID-Gobeshona Young Researcher Fellowship
- Green Talent Award, Government of Germany
- Commonwealth Youth Award for Excellence in Development Work
- Forbes 30 under 30
- Asia 21 Young Leader Fellow, Asia Society
- United Nations Young Leader for Sustainable Development Goals
Maxwell Beganim, Ghana
Climate Advisor to the Secretary General, Pan African Youth Union
- Ghana Youth Voice, Climate change and Energy Steering Committee Member
- African Chair, Global Peace
- Pan African Youth Union, Climate Work Group
- Eco Warriors Movement, Board Member
- Energy and Climate Change Member, SYND
#Cutoutcutlery and #skipthestuff
Two Collective Action Campaigns to Reduce Food Service-related Plastic Waste
According to Upstream, "In the U.S., 561 billion disposable food service items are used every year, resulting in 4.9 million tons of waste. Americans use more than 36 billion utensils and as much as 142 billion straws each year. Most restaurants provide these accessories for take-out meals even if the customer doesn’t want or need them.
Reducing Unnecessary and Unwanted Takeout Waste
Designed and Led By Habits of Waste
We're partnering with Habits of Waste to support their #CutOutCutlery campaign. This initiative has convinced the four biggest app-based food delivery platforms in the U.S. to change their user interface so that disposable items, such as cutlery, are op-in, rather than provided by default.
We're supporting this campaign by expanding it to college campuses in the U.S. You can also check out their website to make a poster for your favorite restaurant or take-out location and ask them to opt-in.
Driving Policy Change
Designed and Led by Upstream
We're proud to partner with Upstream's #SkipTheStuff national policy campaign organized through their National Reuse Network.
The goal is to enact policies in local and state government that require restaurants to “ask first” before adding all the unnecessary stuff to your order. Together we can get city, county and state legislatures to take action and enact a policy that:Requires every restaurant to ask the customer first before providing accessories
Requires meal delivery and online apps (like Uber Eats, GrubHub, Door Dash and Yelp) to post a menu of accessories (e.g. cutlery, napkins, straws, condiments, etc.) whereby a customer has to “opt-in” or select each item and quantity they want.
