On Thursday 7 of November, we were fortunate enough to attend the United Learning COP29 simulation event ahead of the real conference taking place in Baku, Azerbaijan.
During the simulation, each of us were given distinct roles alongside students from various other schools within the United Learning body. We replicated the actual roles various stakeholders have in the climate negotiations, and these were titles such as world leaders from various powerful countries such as China and Germany, to the less developed nations such as the islands in the Pacific Ocean such as Tuvalu and Kiribati who are often deemed to be the most impacted by climate change.
Other positions such as journalists, climate activists, and fossil fuel lobbyists were also adopted in order to reproduce the way in which the opinions and beliefs of the public surrounding the climate negotiations can be changed by the output of the media.
After making agreements with various nations about how we would help each other in combating the fossil fuel emissions that have exacerbated climate change and being reminded about the devastating impact carbon has on the environment by some very passionate climate activists, each country pledged their targets they agreed on in order to mitigate their emissions of carbon. This eventually drew the conclusion that reducing carbon emissions will take a lot of both time and money and may never return to pre-industrial levels.
Overall, the experience was very insightful as it allowed us to gain a firsthand experience of what happens in the conferences that play such a pivotal role in the world around us.
Written by Sixth Form students Grace W, Claire B, Clodagh W and Sophia C
Categories: Sixth Form