The COP 27 Climate Conference hosts countries in the United Nations to discuss efforts and propose solutions to combat climate change. Last month, some of UNC’s very own had the unique opportunity to attend the conference in Egypt.
Since UNC is an accredited NGO, or a non-governmental organization, they were granted the opportunity to send students and faculty to the conference. One of those people was junior Max Poteat.
Poteat said one UNC professor runs a lab that focuses on climate research, which allowed her to bring eight students to COP 27 — which the junior described as an “insane” experience.
“I’ve never been in a setting with that many different people,” Poteat said. “It was awesome hearing how you could make little changes at different levels.
Poteat added the students selected were not only environmental science students, but also those interested in policy and media.
“It was a group of individuals that had a lot of different backgrounds, but all had an interest in climate or had done some research,” Poteat said.
Poteat said attending COP 27 allowed him to talk to different leaders across the globe.
“You would turn next to somebody and they would be running XY and Z, or it’d be a teenager who has just won their local school board,” Poteat said. “But most importantly, I think it was just awesome to hear how they’re making meaningful change in a community that’s either the size of Chapel Hill or the size of Charlotte.”
Groups and individuals at COP 27 highlighted the importance of reframing conversations about climate change, Poteat said. He added contextualizing the temperature changes which have already occurred is a powerful way to emphasize how global warming has affected our planet.
Photo via Max Poteat.
“Meteorologists on the TV should be like, ‘Well, actually, 30 years ago, it was three degrees or four degrees cooler,” Poteat said.
Poteat said this was the first year the Youth Climate Movement had bilateral talks with other nations. However, he added many young people were missing in the majority of panel discussions. Poteat said the conference defined “youth” as those 35 or younger.
“It was solutions not coming from people that actually would be the ones dealing with the problem 30 years down the road,” Poteat said. “I think there was a mix of an effort to show that there are youth in numbers there, but little effort done to actually make sure they were at all different tables.”
Poteat said he was most interested in transit discussions at COP 27. He said he was particularly intrigued by how different countries have been able to maximize their bike infrastructure.
“There was this really cool mayor from the Netherlands,” Poteat said. Their whole city has like 66,000 bicyclists a day. They just don’t really use cars — they make the cars on the outskirts. I saw a diagram of how that all works, like the flow of traffic, and I just thought that was the coolest thing ever.”
Poteat said he, and the other students in attendance, plan to bring what they learned from COP 27 to Chapel Hill.
“The long term goal was to at least come out with at least one climate goal for the city. I know Chapel Hill put out their 2021 report, and it’s really extensive, but how can we tie in everyone to change their habits?”’ Poteat said.
Countries at the conference could not reach an agreement to phase out the use of fossil fuels. Additionally, scientists have warned if the earth reaches a threshold of 1.5 degrees Celsius, there will be severe disruptions to the planet with increased natural disasters. The earth is currently on track for global warming to increase by 1.7 degrees Celsius.
Although the conference’s intended mission wasn’t reached, Poteat said everyone can play a role in combating climate change.
“Let your neighbors or your friends see how they can help by changing their habits in a small way,” Poteat said. “If you can change little habits, it’s gonna start adding up.”
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