Fifth annual climate negotiation simulation takes place in partnership with Chatham House
On Monday 1 December, the fifth annual BISA climate negotiation simulation took place at Chatham House in London. This year’s event was our largest yet, with almost 120 participants from over 30 UK universities, and from Chatham House’s Common Futures Conversations, part of The Queen Elizabeth II Academy for Leadership and the Next Generation.
The aim of this annual student experience event is to engage students in a topical and important issue, and to raise their awareness of the international politics of climate change.
This year’s simulation commenced with a keynote speech from Anna Åberg - Research Fellow at Chatham House’s Environment and Society Centre. Anna’s work focuses on international climate politics, the UN climate negotiations, and climate finance. She has authored or co-authored several papers and articles, and co-hosts the Climate Briefing podcast. Prior to joining Chatham House, Anna was a Desk Officer at the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs, working on global ocean issues (2018–19), humanitarian policy (2015–16), and Sweden’s relations with the World Bank Group (2018).
Following the keynote, negotiations began. The climate negotiation is modelled on a simulation designed by Professor Mark Webber (University of Birmingham). It reproduces the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Students act as delegates to COP and are tasked with building on existing agreements (most importantly the 2015 Paris Agreement) and the COP agenda. During the course of the day, the delegates discussed reductions in global greenhouse gas emissions, how to fund climate transition, and a reform of the COP process.
The discussions proved difficult as delegates struggled to reach consensus on many issues. Their experience reflects the real world of current climate diplomacy. The delegates took part in frank discussions, spending time negotiating an opening agenda and a draft declaration.
Juliet Dryden, CEO/Director of BISA said:
“This flagship annual event gives students from across the UK the opportunity to apply theory to real-life scenarios, and to see inside the Chatham House building in London. Among other transferable skills, the students gain experience of public speaking, debating and research.”
At the end of the day, awards were presented for distinguished, outstanding, and most authentic delegations. The awards went to:
Distinguished delegation award: Gabriel Lesinya Lemarkoko and Adam Francis (Brunel University, representing South Korea)
Outstanding delegation award: Awarded jointly to Andres Stiven Bautista Martinez and Kyra McKay (Chatham House Common Futures Conversations representing Oman), and Haley Flower and Ashwin Aggarwal (University of Warwick representing Azerbaijan)
Most authentic delegation award: Ella Baker and Arbona Shala (Bournemouth University representing Iran)
All participants will receive a certificate to commemorate their involvement.
We are extremely grateful to Chatham House for partnering with us once again on this year’s climate negotiation simulation. We are also grateful to Professor Mark Webber for leading on the academic arrangements, and to Zion Ngah Ateba from the University of Birmingham for acting as Co-Chair.
