Since 1995, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) has organized annual international conferences, known as COPs (Conference of the Parties). Each November, delegates from nearly every country meet to discuss global strategies for mitigating and adapting to climate change. In 2024, I attended COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan as an official UN Observer. I was granted access to high-level negotiations, press conferences, and events, as well as opportunities to network with prominent environmental organizations. This presentation will cover the COPs themselves, including an overview of the political tensions, prominent figures, and current debates that have shaped their successes and failures over the years, as well as my experience of COP29 specifically. I will share the difficulties I encountered and how those experiences have shaped my climate activism post-COP, and I will explore how these conferences have influenced climate action and attitudes on a global scale, leading to both remarkable breakthroughs and catastrophic failures.

Link to the online program