COP29: how Sussex academics and alumni are taking part on the world stage
By: Ellie Evans
Last updated: Monday, 25 November 2024
Amal Ridene pictured at COP29 in Baku
As COP29 draws to a close, discover how our graduates, researchers and academics have been helping to set the global agenda.
The 29th session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, also referred to as COP29, took place from 11 to 24 November in Baku, the capital city of Azerbaijan. This is the annual, decision-making meeting of the 198 countries that have signed up to the original 1992 United Nations climate change agreement.
Can COP really make a difference?
Before proceedings got underway, our very own Professor Peter Newell, Professor of International Relations in the School of Global Studies, explained what to expect from the United Nations’ annual international climate meeting. What could it achieve? And what did it mean that the hosts were Azerbaijan, one of the birthplaces of the modern fossil fuel industry?
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Peter’s work calling for a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty was mentioned last week in a BBC article about curbing the use of fossil fuels.
You can also see our LinkedIn post about the work of the SUS-POL research programme led by Peter which is exploring a radical new approach to climate governance: a focus on policies that will reduce the supply of fossil fuels to the energy system.
Which of our former students were in Baku?
Reshmi Ladwa, who studied at Sussex for an MSc in Energy Policy from 2020 to 2021, is now Head of Operations and Partnerships and COP29 Programme Director for the Global Wind Energy Council and Global Renewables Alliance. She’s been attending COP for a number of years and spoke to us about her expectations ahead of this year’s event.
“COP28 marked a landmark moment in the history of COPs, with nearly 200 countries pledging to triple renewable energy capacity and double energy efficiency by 2030. As we look ahead to COP29, with hopes of advancing progress, there is both apprehension and excitement about what can be achieved at the largest annual gathering of leaders, policymakers, and civil society in the climate change arena,” she said.
“Having attended COPs for the past four years since completing my master’s at Sussex, I can confidently say that each year I leave the two-week conference with a more compassionate, realistic, and broadened understanding of the world—an experience I deeply value and which my time at Sussex helped to cultivate.”
Amal Ridene, who’s just finished her MSc in Sustainable Development at the Science Policy Research Unit of Sussex Business School as a Chevening Scholar, was also at Baku this year as a Finance Youth Fellow with the UN High Level Climate Champions Team.
So, what it is actually like to be at the biggest climate event on the planet? In this video she told us about her experience of COP as the financial negotiations got underway.
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You can also read this blog by Amal about how COP29 offers new opportunities for impactful investment in adaptation.
Which of our academics headed to COP?
Professor Matthew Agarwala, one of the chairs of the Bennett Institute for Innovation and Policy Acceleration and Professor of Sustainable Finance, moderated a session on measuring climate risks for smarter adaptation and mitigation solutions on Saturday, 16 November.
The event, organised by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, considered the impact of extreme weather events and the risks associated with shifting to a low-carbon economy impact on people, infrastructure, financial markets, and economies. It looked at the global efforts to build an internationally accepted framework for measuring both physical and transition risks of climate change. You can watch this video of the panellists discussing how these risk indicators can help assess countries' vulnerabilities and guide the development of stronger, more resilient policies and adaptation strategies.
Find out more about the work of the Bennett Institute and their role in bringing together diverse groups to generate real solutions, with global impact, at record speed.
Also making headlines during COP29...
Professor Mari Martiskainen, Professor of Energy and Society and Director of the Energy Demand Research Centre based at our Science Policy Research Unit, appeared on ITV News to talk about whether the UK government's sustainability ambitions go far enough, particularly around housebuilding and the urgent need to build environmentally friendly homes as well as retrofit existing houses.
Read more about the work of the Energy Demand Research Centre.
Concerned about the climate crisis?
What can we expect from the decisions made at COP? And does the intensity of the negotiations (and resulting coverage) contribute to even more fears about our future?
After experiencing eco-anxiety herself first-hand when a glacier in the Dolomites she had climbed as a child began to melt, SSRP Research Fellow and Senior Lecturer in Environmental Law Dr Emanuela Orlando is looking at how the law can be used to address this.
"Events like COP can trigger more sustainable behaviour, but it isn't enough if governments don't act,” she says. "That feeling of powerlessness triggers anxiety. We all want to do something, but our governments aren't acting fast enough. The way climate change is portrayed can also lessen its important impact - and if it isn't taken seriously, people feel powerless.
"I'm interested in the role of the law and our courts to address this. I'm also looking at how we can assign the responsibility of environmental harm at a legal level: how can one state have a regulatory impact on what happens on the other side of the world, with the production of palm oil for example."
Find out how Emanuela is exploring this topic at Sussex in this LinkedIn blog post.
This work supports the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals: SDG 13 (climate action) and SDG 17 (Partnership for the Goals).You can read more about our work on the SDGs here.