My Experience at COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland
By Clara Cho
Before attending COP26 I had done some research into the layout of the event, and what exactly the Blue vs Green zones were, so I went in feeling excited and somewhat prepared. However, I realized on day one that there is really no adequate preparation for attending a climate change conference where you are surrounded by 10,000 people, and what feels like 10,000 different events happening at the same time. My week at COP26 passed in a blur of events, frantic note taking, networking, adding people on LinkedIn and reminding myself of what day it was, and what events I had marked as important to attend for that day. As chaotic as it sounds, I learned so much in my one week at COP, and I am so grateful for the amazing opportunity that I had to be there, and to witness the energy surrounding climate change action.
“Now that I am back home in my calm Boston apartment, the two words that I would use to sum up my experience at COP26 are overwhelming and exhilarating.”
The physical experience of being surrounded by 10,000 people from around the world was overwhelming, but then knowing that those 10,000 people included some of the biggest names in climate change and world leaders made it exhilarating. I went into COP feeling pessimistic about the outcome of the actual negotiations, an outlook that has not really changed for me, especially knowing that the current commitments by countries are still not enough. However, at all of the events I attended, and with all the people I met, there was an incredible energy and excitement for action on climate change that I found reassuring. It was exhilarating to hear leaders in government and business talking with so much enthusiasm for climate action, and I found myself feeling more optimistic each day. Aside from the commitments and plans for action that I was hearing about, the biggest source of optimism for me at COP26 was seeing the strength of the youth presence, both inside the venue and outside at protests. The presence of so many young people alongside me at COP made me feel hopeful for the future where we are the ones dictating climate action, and it helped me realize that my voice holds significance as a young person working for climate change. Separately, seeing the strength of the youth protests also encouraged me because that voice plays a huge role in pressuring our leaders and reminding them that we will not give up.
One of the things that I was grappling with while at COP was the feeling that I was not fulfilling any major purpose as a delegate, beyond that of observer, as my badge labelled me. Participating in the events and bearing witness to the commitments and promises that leaders and business people were making gave me a feeling of responsibility to see how these commitments to action play out, but I still felt like I was lacking a concrete purpose. However, after meeting a few youth delegates, I was inspired to join YOUNGO, the youth constituency within the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. Moving forward, I want to do more than observe at COPs, and I believe that joining YOUNGO will allow me to add my voice to a significant platform that is engaging with COP in a meaningful way to call for greater climate action.
Besides my personal struggle with the role that I was filling at COP, I found myself feeling affirmed in my choice of study and future career path. As a student in the Agriculture, Food and Environment master’s program at the Friedman School, I went into COP with a different outlook from students at the Fletcher School. While international diplomacy and negotiation holds interest for me, I was most interested in the discussions taking place that linked agriculture and climate change, since that is my field of interest and study. Going into COP26, I knew that the Koronivia Joint Work on Agriculture group was really the only piece of the UNFCCC that discussed agriculture, but I found myself surprised at how many events and pavilions were holding events on agriculture or related to the food system. I believe strongly that agriculture is both part of the problem and the solution to climate change, and I have been frustrated with its lack of presence in official UNFCCC conversations. However, to see those conversations happening with NGOs, governments and the private sector outside of the negotiations made me realize that agriculture is a part of the dialogue surrounding climate change, even if it is not discussed at length within the UNFCCC. This realization has affirmed my desire to work in agriculture and climate change policy because I do see it is a realm that will play an increasingly important role as agriculture is impacted by climate change, and vice versa. I hope that in future COPs, agriculture and food systems play a larger role in the discussion around climate change, and I intend to work towards expanding that discussion.
COP26, while both overwhelming and exhilarating, was overall an amazing experience that has taught me a lot, and given me even more to reflect upon. It has given me a lot of hope for tackling the problem of climate change, and I hope to play a bigger role in future conferences after seeing the many opportunities for action that are available. ∎
Clara Cho is a student in the Agriculture, Food and Environment master’s program at the Friedman School at Tufts University.
Stay tuned for additional blogs from the Tufts COP26 delegation.