Bringing a student perspective to global climate change conference

#UWCOP22 Team (left to right): Kayla Hardie (SCI), Masroora Haque (Arts), Professor Brendon Larson (ENV), Bailey Jacobs (ENV), Professor Neil Craik (ENV), and Ambika Opal (ENG). Missing from photo: Hadi El-Shayeb (ENV).

As global leaders come together in Marrakech, Morocco to move the 2015 Paris Climate Change Agreement into action, Waterloo students will be part of the conversation.

The Waterloo delegation, coordinated by the Interdisciplinary Centre on Climate Change, is made up of five students and two professors — spanning the Faculties of Arts, Engineering, Environment and Science. The group, which will connect with other universities and youth from around the world, hopes to share feedback with the Canadian delegation at the COP22 United Nations’ Climate Summit, taking place from Nov. 7 to 18^th.

Kayla Hardie, a third-year Physics and Astronomy student, plans to explore whether Canada is doing enough on climate change, during her time in Morocco.

“I hope COP22 sparks a larger conversation across campus about climate change to increase awareness and improve campus sustainability,” says Hardie.

Read more about Hardie's story.

As a fourth-year School of Planning student, Hadi El-Shayeb believes that understanding communities and cultures plays an important role in addressing climate change.

“I’m really passionate about tackling climate change from an ecological design perspective. But for effective governance, it needs to be approached at a local level” he said. Read more about El-Shayeb and the Faculty of Environment students and professors attending COP22.

The delegation and a team of volunteers here at home will bring updates to the Waterloo community via social media (#COP22), a blog, and a series of events that are planned across campus, including live Skype sessions during the conference and a panel to share post-conference reflections on Monday, November 28^th.