Giving youth a seat at the table on global chemicals and waste

Mr Lovish Raheja, 2026

Purpose

As a doctoral researcher at Monash Business School working on circular economy and sustainable supply chains, Lovish Raheja is committed to ensuring that scientific research informs environmental policy while creating meaningful opportunities for youth to contribute to global decision-making. His engagement with international chemicals and waste governance seeks to bridge academia, civil society and multilateral institutions by strengthening youth participation and promoting evidence-based policymaking for a safer and more sustainable future.

Practice

Alongside his research, Lovish serves on the coordination team of the Chemicals and Waste Youth Platform (CWYP), the thematic youth constituency under the UN Major Group for Children and Youth (UNMGCY). Representing a network spanning more than 150 countries, the platform works to ensure that young people – including early-career researchers, grassroots practitioners, Indigenous youth, farmers and civil society representatives – are meaningfully represented in international chemicals and waste governance. His responsibilities include membership management, coordinating global consultations, organising capacity-building webinars, and supporting engagement across major United Nations policy processes. To date, as a platform, CWYP has provided full or partial financial support to more than 160 children and youth, with over 81% of sponsored participants from Global South countries, enabling participation in the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions Conferences of the Parties (BRS COPs), Global Framework on Chemicals (GFC) International Conferences, Minamata Convention COPs, and the Plenary of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Panel on Chemicals, Waste and Pollution (ISP-CWP). Lovish represented the constituency at the BRS COPs 2025 and the first ISP-CWP Plenary in 2026, contributing to policy statement submissions, moderating side events, facilitating dialogue among youth representatives and delegates, and engaging with governments, UN agencies and other stakeholders – engagements that also showcased Monash Business School's research perspectives. In addition, he serves in his personal capacity as a youth expert on the committee developing the High-Level Indicator for Global Environmental Burden under the Global Framework on Chemicals, administered by UNEP, which is developing system-level indicators to monitor chemical pollution across land, air, water and biota.

Output

The platform's collective advocacy has contributed to the establishment of formal youth consultation processes under the Minamata Convention, the consideration of age-disaggregated data within the Global Framework on Chemicals, the launch of the BRS Youth Stakeholder Group, and the initiation of a dedicated youth engagement strategy by the BRS Secretariat. These milestones have strengthened recognition of youth as an essential stakeholder in global governance of chemicals and waste.

Outcome

These activities have expanded opportunities for meaningful youth participation in international environmental governance while strengthening collaboration between researchers, policymakers and civil society, and have enhanced the capacity of young leaders worldwide through consultations, policy engagement and training. For Monash Business School, these engagements demonstrate how doctoral research and responsible leadership extend beyond academia to inform international policy and contribute to sustainable development.

Impact

By strengthening institutional mechanisms for youth engagement and contributing to the development of globally applicable environmental indicators, these activities support a more inclusive, science-informed approach to chemicals and waste governance – helping ensure that future generations have a meaningful voice in decisions that affect their well-being, while advancing the Sustainable Development Goals through evidence-based policymaking, international collaboration and responsible leadership.