Author: Dima Zlenko

Continuing the previous article on how to navigate COP, a host country provides numerous opportunities to explore.

In general, while COP is happening within eleven days, the country’s exploration is manageable to plan. It makes little difference whether to attend COP for five or four days, but it makes a huge difference whether to explore Azerbaijan for one or zero days. As such, with Jacob Wilentz, Duke ’24 alum, we had the pleasure of seeing the gorgeous sceneries of Azerbaijan. From the flame mountain with the constant burning of natural gas to the mesmerizing Caucasus Mountains, we couldn’t stop being impressed by the beauty of local views.

We also couldn’t avoid noticing lots of oil and gas extraction sites. One of the pictures I didn’t take was the COP29 sign in front of a petrol jack pumping oil. Not to diminish the critiques of a country’s economy, which is primarily fueled by oil and gas export, it’s important to see a broad picture (e.g., Azerbaijan’s oil and gas export is less than 1% on the world’s market).

Some other notable observations around Azerbaijan include countless surveillance cameras, metal detectors in the metro, and manicured Baku. As I have visited over 40 countries, I recall only three cities where one should take a bag through a metal detector when entering public transport, such as the metro: Baku, Moscow, and Shanghai. This peculiarity of having a high level of security plays a role in organizing such a sizeable event. Not a single time have we waited in line for security or badge checks for longer than a minute or two. The accreditation, security and shuttle organization of the conference were flawless.

Finally, the last part is after the COP. When prospective students reach out to me for advice, the one idea I always emphasize is thank you notes and follow-ups. When someone gives me their business card, I try to write a few words on the card right away, like ‘COP29, date, and a few topics we discussed.’ Starting with the people who impressed me the most and with whom I want to stay in touch, I would send a note to most of the people whom I met. As with so many things happening at the conference, it’s never too early to follow up.

The impression of COP29 results were highly polar. The presidency claims breakthrough and delivery of a new financial goal. However, opposite to the hosting country, many call this year’s COP a failure: ‘Three hundred billion dollars till 2035 is a joke, and it’s not something we should take lightly. I do not think it’s something we should clap our hands and force us to take it’ – said a delegate from Nigeria, Nkiruka Maduekwe, NPR reporting.

To conclude, despite many calls for the COP to set our society back, as a student, one still greatly benefits from observing such a vital event, however successful or not the outcome is. From pure learning while attending events to getting to know other delegates, COP is like any other conference but more.

The luxury of being a student at COP is a relaxed daily agenda. While official countries’ delegates need to navigate a multidimensional game of chess between science, politics, and corporate realities, students can best form the fascinating part – learning and asking hard questions. I’ve attended COP29 for the entire two weeks and see COP as something to tackle in three parts: before, during, and after.

One famous general said, ‘Plans are useless, but planning is essential.’ Even though many things change before and during the COP, a student can get ready by laying the foundation for a successful few days by identifying people to have coffee with.  UNFCCC regularly publishes the list of all registered participants, which may come helpful. There are usually a few dozen private companies as well as the world’s major NGOs. As such, one could find a few companies of interest and connect with the people before coming to the COP.

Despite hundreds of events, there are only a few main items to follow. In Baku, major topics were the new collective quantified goal (NCQG), loss and damage, and article 6. With one of these topics in mind, one could even go around countries’ pavilions and have some in-depth discussions while learning about the country’s agendas (or the absence of one). Overall, a student can lay a successful foundation for COP by having a lineup of conversations with people of interest and having a topic in mind to follow.

During the COP, students in our group had three main approaches: follow one topic deeply, engage in various items broadly, or work for a client (an organization we all found and supported in various extends). My classmate Sameer Swarup (MEM’26) took the first approach and closely followed the loss and damage processes. By the end of the conference, not only was he highly proficient in the subject, but he also knew the key actors involved. When asked for the interview in the corridor, he gave a brilliant answer with no preparation.

The second common approach was to look for events of interest broadly. As my master’s project topic is biodiversity credits, I was looking for related events. Furthermore, I wanted to see how COP is different from other conferences. Hence, I attended high-level opening statements, ministerial statements, and several press conferences. I also got to stop by for events in many pavilions, including the United States, Sweden, China, Indonesia, and more.

Thirdly, as part of the class, we needed to have a client and work with them. The work extends varied. As part of the Ukraine delegation, I organized a panel on the role of American universities in Ukraine’s recovery. Kayla Fericy, a third-year PhD candidate in Civil and Environmental Engineering, brought her invaluable technical expertise in water quality and offered her insights. I was also asked for some interpretation support. Hence, I shadowed our deputy minister at various talks where she made opening statements or spoke on a panel. Additionally, as a president of the University of North Carolina MBA Net Impact Club, I created content for the Net Impact Instagram.

Second part of the article: Being a student at COP: During and After.

Without the intention to even scratch the surface of countries’ external and internal agendas for attending COP, I’ll share my reflections and impressions within the very limited time I was exposed to COP.

Currently, there are 198 Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. That includes all 193 UN members, two eligible non-member states (the Cook Islands and Niue), Holly See (Vatican), the State of Palestine, and the European Union. When I listened to some of the opening statements by heads of delegations, heads of state, or their representatives, two countries called for the inclusion of Taiwan (Tuvalu and Eswatini). Notably, some other may have also called but I’ve heard only some twenty five opening statements. With an overarching theme of tackling climate change, each country also has its personal agenda directly linked to climate or having nothing to do with it.

The USA, despite the election results, is leading the way on many fronts. Primarily due to being the largest economy and housing the world’s most influential companies, timing one little switch in packaging, fuel type, or operation procedures can have more impact than getting a small country to net zero. As we learned from one of the generous US briefings, this year’s COP isn’t relaxed and surely not ‘laid back.’ The atmosphere is far from: ‘It doesn’t matter as the leadership will change within a few months.’ On the contrary, the delegates are all hands on deck to get done as much as possible.

As to the country where I was born, Ukraine is approaching 1000 days after the full-scale russian invasion, and the climate agenda is tightly linked with the agenda of peace and the country’s very existence. War, amidst human lives, takes a heavy toll on nature. Ukraine has the most landfill-mined content in the world, with 7% of arable agricultural land being unused as it lies along the frontlines. On the technical side, who is responsible for the carbon emission of the flight from Beijing to Warsaw or Stockholm that now has to travel extra miles due to the ongoing russian aggression? The answer is the same as the climate justice answer: polluters pay, or in other words aggressor pays. Despite the war, Ukraine not only had a pavilion for the third time but also announced its long-term low carbon emissions strategy until 2050.

Overall, more than 65,000 delegates had registered to attend the conference. This makes this year’s COP second in size after the last year in Dubai and bigger compared to notable COPs such as Copenhagen in 2009 and Paris in 2015. The goals for countries to be a part of COP are multidimensional, and only a few veterans of international negotiation have the experience to give an approximate estimate of a country’s goal, especially the most impactful players. With the class, we were lucky enough to meet one of these veterans, Stephen Hammer, the CEO of New York Climate Exchange and ex-negotiator, who, while we spoke for over an hour in the middle of the COP corridors, pointed to a half dozen of people summarizing their negotiation achievements.

To conclude, the COP is sizeable with countless events and agendas, yet when one focuses on either getting a brief understanding of everything or going deeper into one topic, things become easier. Check other blogs for more!