UCL Team En Route to COP28

Photo Courtesy: UCL website

The 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference, better known as COP28, is set to take  place between  30 November and  12 December. A diverse team of academics will be flying down to Dubai to represent UCL and present key contributions to the climate conversation. We got the inside scoop on their preparation, insights and goals. 

This year marks UCL’s first time sending a student representative to COP28, and it is none other than Mary McHarg, the Union Affairs Officer. As  student representative, Mary will serve as the student body’s voice during COP28. Ahead of the conference , Mary is also hosting a Student Sustainability Forum this Thursday, where students can interact with members of the COP28 team and voice their priorities in tackling the climate crisis. As the conference takes place, she will be communicating key developments through the Student Union website and social media channels, giving us all the possibility to follow the event. 

Beyond COP28, Mary is also at the forefront of reshaping UCL’s internal sustainability efforts. She has been heavily involved with championing student voices for a more accountable, long-term and ambitious sustainability strategy at UCL, with a particular focus on strengthening UCL’s circular economy and sustainable investment practices.

We also spoke with two accomplished professors on the UCL team, Professor Lisa Vanhala and Professor Priti Parikh. Lisa specialises in Political Science, with a particular focus on loss and damage funds for climate change; while Priti’s research focuses on sustainable construction and widening access to infrastructure, especially in the Global South. 

At COP28, both professors will be communicating  their research through attending panels, discussions with policy-makers and observing climate negotiations. In particular, the UCL team will be focused on developing a more comprehensive agenda for loss and damage, a key framework for providing financial assistance to countries most affected by climate change. Notably, Lisa and Priti recently joined forces with other UCL professors, to co-write an innovative, interdisciplinary paper on loss and damage. 

Lisa and Priti both observed that a major priority for COP28 would be overcoming inequalities and power imbalances, between negotiating countries.Indeed , Small States and the Global South are disproportionately affected by climate change, yet they often have smaller delegations and are tasked with addressing a multitude of topics. As such the UCL team hopes that through developing mechanisms like loss and damage funds, climate and social justice can be more equitably achieved at COP28.