Fighting for Collaboration: Both Then and Now

This blog post was written by Sabine Castro, a 2025 EarthEcho Marine Plastics Ambassador.

Sabine is a 2025 Marine Plastics Ambassador and had the opportunity to attend the United Nations’ Water Multi-Stakeholder Meeting for the 2026 Water Conference.

Attending the Water Conference at the United Nations was one of the most enlightening experiences I’ve had as a 16-year-old water advocate. It showed me how diplomatic relations play out and how water conservation brings countries together over a shared essential resource. 

From listening to delegates of stakeholder countries like Argentina and Turkiye to hearing the Special Envoy on Water, Retno Marsudi’s speech on international collaboration, I learned about how our efforts on the ground are represented in international meetings. 

Further, I also heard the opinions of many different countries on water issues, from Tajikistan to Senegal, whom is jointly hosting the Water Conference in 2026 with the United Arab Emirates. 

Sabine’s Great Great Grandfather, Hector Castro, served as the El Salvadoran Delegate to the United Nations in the 1940s. As ambassador to Washington and delegate to the United Nations; Mr. Castro played a prominent part in Pan‐American affairs.

Growing up, I’d always heard stories about my family’s lineage, where we came from, and what we did. One of those family members was my Great Great Grandfather, the El Salvadoran Delegate to the United Nations, Hector Castro, or as I knew him, Papa Hector. During my time at the United Nations for the Water conference, I stumbled across an anniversary exhibit, “Celebrating 80 Years of the San Francisco Conference.” Only upon learning the gravity of this conference in the post-World War Two world did I understand how important my Great Great Grandfather was, and how we ended up paralleling today: both fighting for collaboration across borders on a world stage.

Sabine visited the Homo Sargassum exhibit on display at the UN Headquarters in New York City. The exhibition aims to celebrate World Ocean Month and rethink Sustainable Development Goal 14 for the conservation and sustainable use of the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development.

Lastly, I was surprised by the art on the ground floor of the United Nations which highlighted the plastic pollution issue as seen in the photo above. 

As a 2025 Marine Plastics Ambassador, Discovery Guide Leader at the Central Park Zoo, and founder of Dolphin Defenders, I’ve spent the last year and a half advocating against plastic pollution. But I was struck by the metaphor of our ocean flooded with plastic in the Homo Sargassum exhibit. To me, it’s a reminder of why I fight for clean oceans and a better life below water. 

So, as I roam the halls where my Great Great Grandfather’s legacy still echoes, both in the collaboration that shaped the world then and calls to us now, I understand what I’ve inherited: not just a name in the archives, but a responsibility to act. A responsibility to build a future where diplomacy drives sustainability, and youth lead the charge.