首届缔约方会议专题讨论会的亮点

凯莉·麦卡蒂著

电子游戏软件 is an official observer organization to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which enables the institution to send a delegation to one of the foremost international meetings on climate change, 缔约方会议(通常简称为COP). COP provides an annual forum for treaty parties to negotiate new goals and review progress toward existing commitments and typically culminates in an agreement released at the close of the conference, 也许最著名的例子是《电子游戏正规平台》. 

The 席勒电子游戏正规平台所 for Integrated Science and Society is proud to administer BC’s COP programming. 在周五, 3月15日, 2024, the Institute hosted its inaugural COP Symposium to highlight and share the experiences of 电子游戏软件’s COP28 delegation to Dubai. 为期半天的活动由一个学生小组组成, 教师小组, 还有多个展览，与会者可以直接与代表互动. 该代表团将专题讨论会设计成一个“小型缔约方会议”,” providing BC faculty and students who didn’t travel to Dubai with an opportunity to share in their experiences.

研讨会以茶点和食物欢迎与会者 two short videos created by NASA that illustrate the impacts of climate change 在正式开球前. 开始, School of Social Work Associate Professor and faculty co-lead of the COP28 delegation Praveen Kumar offered opening remarks covering a brief history of COP’s origins, 目的, 和结构. 

“COP conferences are very unlike the usual scientific conferences you may have attended,他描述道。. “你会发现公开示威正在发生, 然后你就可以私下谈判了, and hundreds and hundreds of pavilions [including themed pavilions and country-led pavilions]. The sheer size of the COP conference really shows that it is one of the nodal conferences of climate change. 例如, 去年的迪拜COP会议有多达97人参加,两周内就有1000人.” 

在这97,000人中，电子游戏软件的代表团占了20人. 

在他的开场白之后, Kumar moderated a conversation with undergraduate student delegates 加贝莱维特, Sancia Sehdev, 和杰克·斯特朗, 和法学院学生代表埃迪·沃德一起 学生小组在那里，他们分享了作为COP28代表的经验. 讨论很广泛, ranging from descriptions of their favorite moments to 反射s on the impacts of the host country on negotiations to connections to their classes at BC and the work they plan to pursue. 为了了解COP学生代表一天的生活， 访问席勒的Instagram 来看看COP第一周和COP第二周的精彩片段.

Sancia Sehdev highlighted that “a lot of universities sent delegations that primarily comprised faculty members and grad students, whereas BC really tries to emphasize sending both undergraduate and grad students.在bbc派往COP28的20名代表中, 6人是教职员工, 其中6人是电子游戏正规平台生, 其中8人是本科生. She added that students should “definitely take this opportunity and run with it because it's very, very hard to find and I think we're very lucky to be here and have access to that.” 

Two hours of open exhibits between the morning and afternoon panels allowed attendees to have conversations with delegates and explore specific topics in more depth. 展品包括有关语言的海报, 健康, 只是过渡, 一种基于a的交互式感官练习 COP活动被称为“城市游戏”，以及安装 之后, a project centering the 健康 and environmental consequences of textile waste. 《电子游戏正规平台》最初是由一个 席勒种子补助金 由茱莉亚·德沃伊管理, Lynch School Associate Dean of Undergraduate 学生 and Programs and delegate to COP28. 

The language exhibit illustrated the centrality and impact of word choice and particular phrases. 例如, heated debates surrounded whether the COP28 agreement should call for the “phase out” or “phase down” of fossil fuels. Two other posters reflected takeaways from two of COP’s thematic days on 健康 只是过渡. 第28届缔约方会议是第一个以健康为主题的缔约方会议. 多位代表强调了这一补充的重要性, noting the importance of acknowledging the intersection of 健康 and climate change and underscoring the interest in the subject on BC's campus. That interest spread beyond the delegation as the 健康 poster was heavily visited during the exhibit portion of the Symposium.

Playing the City Game invited attendees to imagine what their ideal city would look like and how cities could be built in ways that fully engage our senses and incorporate sustainable design principles like biomimicry and biophilic design. 

活动以一声嘘声结束 教师小组 consisting of Kumar along with Carroll School of Management Professor Gergana Nenkov and Institute Professor of Climate and Society Yi Ming, 沃德主持, 充满了笑声, 反射, 和外卖. 

Panelists discussed how successful the COP model is and whether COP28 should be considered a success. 年科夫也加入了进来, noting that “one of the big wins out of the COP 28 actually came out on day one and this was the operationalization of the so-called Loss and Damage Fund, 一些国家在哪里作出了最初的资金承诺. 该基金的理念是让GDP高的国家出资, which would be distributed to low GDP countries which are affected by climate change, 尽管它们对气候变化的贡献最小.库马尔同意了, adding the replenishment of the Green Climate Fund and the explicit acknowledgment of the need to transition away from fossil fuels by 2050 to their list of COP28 wins.

明反思了COP28强调公正的必要性, 公平的过渡, 他说:“我是一名训练有素的物理气候科学家, 所以我知道这种向更多可再生能源未来的绿色转型. 但有一件事真正引起了我的注意——不仅仅是我的想象, but my heart – was this emphasis on this green transition being a just one as well.第28届联合国气候变化大会强调了“所有社会活动”的互联性, 经济, 以及气候问题背后的不平等问题,” highlighting the need for interdisciplinary solutions and a diversity of perspectives.

Ming went on to recount an event organized by an NGO that highlighted the experiences of female farmers in India using solar panels in their irrigation systems. 他描述了“观察(女性)的面部表情, 看着喜悦, the struggle” and shared that the experience gave him “as a physical scientist, this new dimension in terms of my understanding of the personal struggle or the personal story behind what seems to be a pretty long goal. So I think this is one reason I remain very, very hopeful about the COP process.”

COP29 will take place from November 11-24, 2024 and will be hosted in Baku, Azerbaijan. 有意成为卑诗省COP29代表团的一员? 申请通知将在学期结束前发出. 申请向所有教师和未毕业的学生开放. 请继续关注我们的参与.