COP24, 24th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change began this week, sending hundreds of climate scientists, companies, and advocates alike to Katowice, Poland to attend the 12-day annual conference. Building upon COP23, COP24 must unleash the full potential of the Paris Agreement by finalizing the Paris Agreement Work Programme (UN). This entails putting in place practical implementation guidelines needed to implement the monumental agreement that aims to limit global warming to well under 2°C this century.
As an official partner in the international effort to reduce the threat of climate change, Emory is sending ten students and two faculty as official observers to this year’s annual United Nations negotiations in Katowice, Poland (Climate Talks). “Students’ voices are really important,” comments Daniel Rochberg, Chief Strategy Office at Climate@Emory, “and the experience of being there is an unparalleled opportunity for students to learn about climate change and meet other leaders from across the world.” As member of the Emory Delegation, MarinangelesGutierrez Rivera, MDP 2019, will join in dialogue surrounding the negotiation. Her foundational experience with environmental justice campaigns as a community organizer and as a consultant to local governments on sustainability and resilience strategy and planning, has given her the policy vocabulary and understanding of the nuances of negotiations so that she will contribute valuably. When asked what she is most looking forward to at COP24, Marina remarked: “By attending COP 24, I look forward to being more intimately engaged, mentally and physically, in the conversations that are driving policy, actions, and funding forward for climate change, development, and human mobility.”
Her research focus is the nexus of humanity mobility and climate change focusing on climate change adaptation and resilience strategies. In her attendance at COP24, she hopes to expand the scope of what the community believes COP is achieving, and can in the future, by putting intersectional issues and climate justice at the forefront. With the hope of ultimately working on climate displacement around the world, one can expect Marinato exhibit no hesitation when asking the difficult questions at COP24 such as “what it means to position migration as an adaptation solution?”.
To see how policy-makers respond to Marina’s hard-hitting questions, following along with her journey. The Emory Delegation will share stories and projects following our attendance at https://climatetalks.emorydomains.org/or using the hashtag #EmoryCOP24
If you’d like to follow Marina’s experience, she’ll be posting on COP and climate-change-related topics through Twitter and Instagram via @duhitsmari
Curriculum
The Emory MDP curriculum combines natural, social, health sciences and management.
FIELD PRACTICUM
The Field Practicum is a core component of the Emory MDP curriculum.
