February 19, 2016

Duke students witness history at Paris climate talks

Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions

On a cold, wintry night in Paris, France, two Duke University students witnessed a moment for the history books. Jessica McDonald and Emma He joined thousands of observers, members of the press and party delegates in thunderous applause when the Paris Climate Agreement was adopted on Saturday, Dec. 12.

The Paris agreement has been hailed as a landmark achievement for international climate policy. Close to 200 countries under the framework of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) adopted the agreement, following years of often frustrating and tumultuous negotiations.

McDonald and He, both MEM 2016 candidates, were part of a delegation of Duke graduate students who attended the negotiations. The students spent fall semester taking the United Nations Climate Change Negotiations Practicum course. During the practicum, which has been held for the past five years, students learn about international climate governance and past climate negotiations held under the UNFCCC.

This year's cohort included 13 students from across Duke's graduate schools, including Sanford, Nicholas, Law, Fuqua (dual degree) and Philosophy. Emily Pechar, an Environmental Policy Ph.D. student, and Siqi Han, MEM 2016, co-led the course, which is advised by Professors Billy Pizer and Jonathan Wiener.

The delegation received financial support for their trip from the Energy Initiative, the Nicholas School of the Environment, and the Sanford Innovation & Impact Fund.

Students not only learned about the climate negotiations but had the unique opportunity to travel to the UN climate talks where they partner with client organizations, such as the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the International Energy Agency (IEA), to gain firsthand experience with the Conference of the Parties (COP) negotiations and accompanying side events.

Six students traveled to Bonn, Germany, for a pre-COP negotiating session in October. Eight students attended COP21 in Paris; Pechar, Han, McDonald and He were joined by Theodore Koboski, Kait Siegel and Oliver Peckham, all MEM 2016, and Will Niver, MPP 2017. The students blogged about their experience as well.

If one word could summarize the COP21 experience, McDonald said, it would be "whirlwind."

"I spent everyday immersing myself in the negotiating process and engaging with the world's top experts in climate science, environmental policy, trade and diplomacy," she said. "I not only had the opportunity to enhance my knowledge of climate policy and experience policy in action, but I was able to contribute substantively in discussions with environmental leaders because of my academic training from Duke."

Other Duke students who attended the COP share this sentiment.

"The spectacle of 150 heads of state in one place – the largest gathering of world leaders ever – was absolutely wild," Niver said. "We were on cloud nine the entire time."

Partnering with clients allowed students to leverage their Duke education as experts on climate change issues. In their work for the IUCN, Koboski, Niver and He tracked progress on adaptation issues and spoke as climate adaptation experts in panel discussions held by the organization.

Other members of the Duke delegation worked with NGOs on issues ranging from renewable energy to international trade and carbon pricing to integrating gender considerations into the negotiating text.  

"Working with the IEA while I was at the COP was one of the most valuable parts of the experience," Siegel said. "It not only allowed me to focus and learn as much as possible about energy issues related to climate policy, but also gave me the opportunity to speak with the executive director, Fatih Birol."

Students also met with Duke alumni and high-ranking environmental leaders, including several members of the negotiating delegations of the United States, Dominican Republic and Ethiopia. Several students also discussed the future of environmental policy in the United States with Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Gina McCarthy and Christy Goldfuss, director of the White House Council for Environmental Quality.

Just as the climate negotiators have their work cut out for them going forward, Duke's work doesn't stop after Paris either. Student organizers are already planning for the sixth year of the practicum, which will be taught in fall 2016. And practicum alumni will be able to bring their experiences back to the classroom and apply their real-life policy work to careers in climate policy.

Reflecting on the outcome of Paris, many of the students agree that while the agreement can be deemed an overall success, some elements will need much more work.

"The Paris Agreement sets up a framework for how the international community can tackle climate change going forward, but it leaves out many of the details about how to increase mitigation ambition, finance adaptation projects, implement market mechanisms and keep countries accountable to their commitments. This will be the work of future COPs," Pechar said.

Nevertheless, the agreement's importance cannot be overstated.

"This is the first international climate deal that includes all of the world's top emitters including the U.S., China and India," McDonald said. "That is why the Paris Agreement is a monumental political achievement."