Speaker: Karma Yonten

Karma Yonten is Bhutan’s first citizen to turn waste management and recycling into a business. His pioneering enterprise, Greener Way, is tackling the country’s growing waste problem head-on: it collects, separates and correctly disposes of domestic waste material; it manages 1,140 tonnes of recyclable matter; it has launched groundbreaking education initiatives; and it turns organic waste into high-grade compost. Karma, who was always determined to be self employed as well as serve his community, was becoming increasingly concerned about mismanaged waste and related issues such as unsightly landfills, leaching toxins and dangerous side-effects on people’s health

Host: Ms. Azusa Kubota

Azusa Kubota is the Resident Representative United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). She was previously Country Manager and Head of UN Joint Presence Office in Solomon Islands for UNDP, UNICEF and UNWOMEN, and led the design and implementation of UN joint programmes in support of peace building, social cohesion and elections prior to and post withdrawal of Regional Assistance Mission in Solomon Islands (RAMSI), as well as a number of climate change projects.