Sally Higgins runs a cattle and cropping farm on the Darling Downs in Queensland, Australia. Earlier this year, Türkiye named her the Presidency Youth Climate Champion for COP31 — the young farmer will now carry youth voices into the rooms where the world decides climate action.
This is a Watan News profile — an explainer article, not a breaking news report.
The farmer from Allora
Higgins comes from Allora, a small town in Queensland’s Darling Downs. About five years ago, she and her partner Gus started their own mixed cattle and cropping farm, and farming remains central to who she is — her connection to the land, the industry and her local community.
For the last two years she has been completing a Nuffield Farming Scholarship, travelling to study how competing demands on agricultural land can be balanced — for the climate, for industries and for communities — and how Australian agriculture can adapt to a net zero future.
She knows first-hand what is at stake when the climate shifts. In just five years on the farm, she has experienced two floods, record heat and storms beyond local memory, while traditional crops are becoming less reliable with more varied rainfall and hotter summers, according to her Farmers for Climate Action profile.
“I applied for this role to help ensure global climate policy recognises both the risks climate change poses to food systems and the essential role agriculture can play in delivering solutions,” she said in that profile.
What the Youth Climate Champion does
According to the Australian government, Türkiye has appointed Higgins as Australia’s nominated Presidency Youth Climate Champion for COP31. Her job is to work with young people across the globe to help shape climate action and COP31 outcomes.
She will bring youth perspectives into decision-making spaces, support youth leadership and elevate youth-led solutions on the global stage. Alongside her, Samed Ağırbaş of Türkiye’s Zero Waste Foundation serves as the Climate High-Level Champion, mobilising non-state actors under the COP31 Action Agenda.
Young delegates discussing climate solutions at an international youth forum. Higgins is touring youth networks to hear what young people demand from COP31. (Illustrative image)
“Setting policy isn’t the hardest part — implementing it is,” she told People N Places Magazine earlier this year. “That only works when solutions are practical, locally driven, and backed by the communities living it every day.”
What young people are telling her
Higgins is already listening. In early conversations with young people, including at Asia Climate Week, some clear and consistent themes are emerging.
Young people want to be part of making decisions, not just consulted along the way. They want climate processes that are genuinely open to everyone — where cost, visas and complexity are not barriers to having a seat at the table. They are watching closely to see whether commitments actually translate into action, and they are calling for more voices in the room, especially from communities that are underrepresented and on the frontlines of climate change.
The same demand echoed in Europe this month, where young people confronted European lawmakers in Strasbourg to demand faster climate action.
Speaking to the Southern Downs Youth Council in August, Higgins told young people from her own region: “Your regional perspective is not a disadvantage; it’s a strength.”
The road to Antalya
COP31 will take place in Antalya, Türkiye, from 9 to 20 November 2026, with a leaders’ summit on 11–12 November. Australia is leading the negotiations, while pre-COP meetings and leaders’ events will be hosted with Pacific partners in Fiji and Tuvalu.
Antalya, Türkiye, on the Mediterranean coast will host COP31 from 9 to 20 November 2026. (Illustrative image)
For Higgins, the role itself sends a message. “Having the champion as an official COP role is really important because it institutionalises the voice of youth in climate decision making,” she said — so that decisions are not only made for today, but with future generations in mind.
Key facts
- Name and role: Sally Higgins — Presidency Youth Climate Champion for COP31.
- From: Allora, Darling Downs, Queensland, Australia; runs a mixed cattle and cropping farm with her partner Gus, started about five years ago.
- Appointed by: Türkiye’s COP31 presidency, as Australia’s nominated youth champion, earlier this year.
- COP31: 9–20 November 2026, Antalya, Türkiye.
- Scholarship: Nuffield Farming Scholar, studying how agriculture can adapt to a net zero future.
- Her message: young people do not just want a seat at the table — they want a say in what is on it.
