UBC sent 14 student and staff delegates to Baku, Azerbaijan for the 29th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP29) from November 11–22.
Managed by the UBC Sustainability Hub and the Office of Global Engagement, 4 delegates were sent in person while others attended virtually for the 11 day conference, where representatives of countries and constituencies had 614 meetings to negotiate the terms of global climate goals.
COP was first started under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to bring together countries, stakeholders and advocates to negotiate a plan to address the effects of climate change caused by greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The UN estimates that current GHG emissions have caused global temperatures to rise 1.2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, leading to increased irregular weather patterns, rising sea levels and reduced ice and permafrost.
Climate scientists and advocates are calling for a reduction of GHG emissions to avoid global temperatures rising above 1.5 degrees Celsius pre-industrial levels. At current emissions rates global temperatures are predicted to rise above this threshold. According to the UNFCCC, the stakes at COP29 were high and countries must push for “ambitious” GHG emissions reductions.
Among other priorities, this year’s COP focused on creating new goals for climate finance so that regardless of income, countries have the necessary funds to start sustainable energy projects and adapt to climate change.
Many vulnerable nations are asking G7 countries to contribute 1 trillion USD to fund adaptation and sustainable energy projects, called the Loss and Damages Fund. Dean Rohman, a virtual UBC student delegate and third-year political science major, pointed out that although financial impacts of climate change are the focus, many of the worst effects are intangible.
Rohman also talked about seeing delegates from vulnerable communities highlight impacts of climate change he had not considered before.
“There's this one statistic that a minister from Bangladesh brought up, which is that during the 2024 floods 7,000 students were not able to go to school. I'd say that there's a lot at stake … especially [for] the least developed countries” said Rohman.
Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) — are national climate action plans that each country submitted in the the 2015 Paris Agreement — are due early next year. The UN estimates that NDCs are not on track to limit global warming beyond 1.5 degrees Celsius, and pledges must be ratcheted upward.
Chunyu Pan, an in-person delegate and fourth-year forestry PhD student, was skeptical if the NDCs would be fulfilled within the year. Pan said, “Especially this year, not many world leaders are coming to Baku, including prominent ones like President Macron from France. They are not coming and they are not providing the right signal to the world.”
Pan also voiced concern over the election of United States President Donald Trump as his administration pulled out of the Paris Agreement in 2017 and could do so again.
Pan said his main goal at this conference was to observe how "global forest carbon offset projects ... play [a] role in mitigating climate change as well as benefiting the local livelihood [and] conserving the local biodiversity."
Last year a Guardian article called out the non-profit Verra, for giving fake rainforest credits-allowing countries and corporations to declare higher GHG emissions reductions than what was actually occurring. Pan said, “Those projects are called REDD+ ... and [they] are receiving heavy criticism from the public, news media and research institutes as well."
"We're going to have … discussions between the policymakers, industry leaders and research professors … to discuss how we can actually make sure the forestry-based carbon credits can be real, additional and quantifiable.”
At COP29, youth-led forums were held to expand dialogue and incorporate different perspectives, including discussions on equity in climate finance, climate mobility and sustainable agricultural and water practices.
“There's quite a few Vancouver based youth organizations that are at COP right now. They started as a group of just people that were like, 'I need to talk about climate change' … And then they do and then you're able to gain traction” said Rohman.
"I do want people to know that people are working very very hard. And at the same time, we can't give up hope now because we're at such crucial moments in time."
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