Humanity’s unsustainable production and consumption practices are driving the planet towards destruction.
On 27 March 2025, UNEP and UN-Habitat, in cooperation with the Permanent Mission of Türkiye and the Zero Waste Foundation, co-organised International Day of Zero Waste with the theme Towards Zero Waste in Fashion and Textiles. The theme shed light on environmental and social challenges caused by the sector’s linear business model, which drives overproduction and overconsumption, and emphasised the need for action in the fashion & textile sector to reduce waste and advance circular solutions. CityNet Secretary General Vijay Jagannathan was featured as a panellist.
In response to the challenges of waste management in urban planning and city operations, Secretary General highlighted three key hurdles:
- rising incomes and consumerism, which fuel unsustainable buying and waste cycles;
- urban poverty, where a significant portion of the population relies on waste for income—often at the cost of health and education;
- climate vulnerability, which now affects entire cities through increasingly frequent disasters.
He emphasised the need for new governance structures and technological solutions, including the potential of AI, to address these interconnected issues and deliver shared global goals more effectively.
For more, visit UN website: http://webtv.un.org/en/asset/k1m/k1mp6nopfe
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This article was written by Programme Officer Erin Um, she can be reached at programs1@citynet-ap.org.
