The Amazon River as seen from the shores of Belém Setting the Scene in Belém Nestled in the heart of the Amazon delta, a region where rain forest, river systems, and dense urban life converge, Belém set the stage for a unique crossover between worlds and their respective policies. While COP 30 was branded as …
Continue reading The Aqueous Agenda: My Experience Beneath the Waves of the COP30 Ocean Agenda
I have to admit that I was quite giddy and star struck sitting in my first informal negotiation at my first COP. Delegates sat in front of their microphones and placards with their country’s name. We all had headsets on, allowing us to understand the big, formal words spoken in six languages. I remember learning …
Continue reading What’s more impactful: negotiation rooms or grassroot movements?
Attending COP30 in Belém was transformative not just because of the negotiations I sat on, but because it fundamentally shifted how I think about the relationship between global climate policy and corporate climate strategy. Coming from a background in sustainability systems, ESG reporting, and decarbonization planning, I found myself constantly linking what was happening in …
Author: Allison Baumgartner, University of Michigan, School of Public Health Introduction. Last November, delegations and observers gathered from across the globe to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Conference of Parties (COP) to discuss and reach a consensus on climate change goals and national commitments. As a global health epidemiologist, the second …
If you are reading this blog post, you may be keeping up with the news around COP29. Scandals and questionable political motives were on full display. In response, a quote I have been thinking about recently: “Those who don’t study history are doomed to repeat it. Yet those who do study history are doomed to …
The packed bus lurched forward as I gripped the railing, trying to steady myself in the dense crowd of delegates, activists, and observers leaving the venue at COP29 in Baku. Exhaustion hung in the air, but so did an unspoken camaraderie. A gentle tap on my arm—a man with kind, tired eyes and a red …
Continue reading Hope in the Margins: Conversations That Move Climate Action Forward
Going to COP28 was both an honor and a moral dilemma. As I embarked on the journey to attend the conference in Dubai, I was acutely aware of the paradoxical nature of the conference: the urgency to address the climate crisis and the carbon footprint generated by thousands of individuals traveling to and from a …
Continue reading Feeling Empowered: Communities Collaborating to Drive Climate Action at COP28
Tapping into the Hidden Potential of Food Waste Panel at COP28 For the first time in COP's history, an entire day was dedicated to discussion on emission reduction in food and agriculture which account for one third of all CO2 emissions (Food & Resiliency Food Production and Partnerships, COP28). We've all heard time and again, …
Continue reading What’s for dinner? Food and agriculture rising to center stage at cop28
In December, our group of 16 University of Michigan graduate students had the honor of attending the 28th Conference of the Parties (COP) in Dubai, UAE, the meeting of the supreme decision-making body of United Nations Climate Change (the UNFCCC). As students, attending COP 28 presented an opportunity to be involved in the process as …
Continue reading Progress, Public Engagement, and Greenwashing at COP 28
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