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Four senior pupils, Sinead Casey, Beth Murray, Lauren Scott and Jenna Ferguson participated in a mock COP28 event on Thurs 30 November 2023 along with 100 other students from 30 schools. They had the opportunity of taking on the role of Secretariat and Press, whilst other students become world leaders, business representatives and environmental activists and lobbyists. The students linked up with others in Egypt while the United Nations climate summit began on Thursday in Dubai. They debated the same issues facing delegates in the United Arab Emirates.
The students were able to work through the first "global stocktake" of the Paris agreement, which examines efforts made by countries to reduce global warming causing emissions with the aim of keeping global temperatures "well below" 20C since the pact was signed in 2015.
During the negotiations in Belfast City Hall, the students had to collectively agree on how much they were going to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by, how they would help struggling nations, and agree on ways to adapt to climate change to protect their cities and people. After two rounds of negotiations, they succeeded in delivering a promise of 1.50C, which was a commendable result. It was an amazing active learning experience to take part in a real-life simulation and our students were commended on their participation and enthusiasm by Dr Peter Doran and Dr Amanda Slevin, QUB.
