United Nations Climate Change Conference

The United Nations Climate Change Conference was held from December 2nd through the 14th in Katowice, Poland. In 1992, countries joined the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, an international treaty that provides a framework for international cooperation to combat climate change. Out of this process came the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement. The Katowice Conference is the 24th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP) in this process. This year, Que Nguyen observed the proceedings. Macalester is an official observer organization which allows the college to send representatives. Check out her blog here: https://www.macalester.edu/sustainability/carbon-neutral/cop/

International progress on climate change is crucial if we as a society are to avert the catastrophic effects of climate change, as brought to light by the IPCC’s latest climate report. Educating our young leaders about how to develop policies and programs to make this happen is critical. This international convention is where the international community will wrestle with how to combat climate change and sending a student will give her a unique perspective on the issues involved.

This post was written by Zella Lobo, a student worker in the Sustainability office.