COP 25 in Madrid: hoping to learn from negotiations on climate change loss and damage

I got this incredible opportunity of attending the UN Climate Change Conference (COP 25) in Madrid through the Duke UN Climate Change Negotiation Practicum. The course provided us an excellent foundation about the UN Climate Change regimes and main negotiation blocks. I was attending this course along with extremely dynamic cohort of students from different departments at Duke. The course is run by high ranking professors and guest lecturers.

At this moment, I am heading to the COP 25 in Madrid which is a part of the final accomplishment of the practicum. This will give real experience of what we have been discussing in class.  I am leaving from Durham, RDU Airport, North Carolina to Miami and then to arrive in Madrid early in the morning of Monday, Dec 2. This means that I am arriving on the opening date of the conference which is a little bit disappointing as it happened due to my own lack of experience to arrange my logistic on time. However, I am still highly motivated and excited to attend the conference.

I am expecting that I will come out of the conference with significant exposure and international experiences regarding climate change negotiations. I see the schedule of the conference from the wonderful COP 25 mobile app on my phone. This tells me that there are a number of grand events including mandated events, official side events, high-level segment, global climate action events, etc. From all these, I am very much interested to attend climate change adaptation-related events.

I am particularly interested to follow-up the negotiation related to climate change loss and damage. This has four thematic expert groups which focus on: slow onset events, non-economic losses, displacement related to the adverse impacts of climate change, and comprehensive risk management and transformational approaches. Out of the focus areas, I am very much attracted to the displacement impacts of climate change and the response being considered to address the issue.

Climate change can cause displacement of people from their homes and communities. Developing recommendations to prevent climate-related displacement is particularly important for less developed countries that are at the heart of the problem. In addition to its importance, the topic is related to my master project where I am investigating the problems and potential solutions around the global refugee crisis. I trust that by attending the conference events, I would get extensive knowledge including the opportunity to network with scholars working on the topic from all over the world.

Yared Hurisa, Rotary Peace Fellow,

MIDP, Sanford Public Policy School, Duke University