When I sat down for my first session of COP watching the delegates at work, I didn’t know what to expect.
What I found was a circle of tables, facing inward, with screens in the middle showing a policy document. One party leads the discussion and would hear out countries as world leaders decide the text, semantics, and phrasing of policy that will impact billions of lives. As I watched the parties work, I was struck by the push and pull of compromise, argument, and defiance. I listened as parties unanimously struck entire paragraphs of text while having unresolved conflict over the wording of a single sentence.
When we prepare for COP, we spend time researching the ins and outs of renewable energy, climate finance, and NDC’s. What we don’t learn until we step foot in the blue zone is the meticulous war that wages inside the conference rooms. Representatives are not just powerful, they are strategic. When they enter a room of delegates leagues apart from them, they have to learn what battles to let go, how to stand firm when it matters the most, and how to account for dozens of other nations doing the same.
This process involved sacrifice. I watched the delegate from Great Britain heave a heavy sigh as she motioned for her contributions to be removed. I watched the understanding dawn on her that the nations would never receive the consensus needed to ratify her statements. I also saw a representative from Sudan stand by keeping a single line from the text, even when the entire room was against him.
As students and young people living in a climate crisis, we expect our passion to take us to the end. We are frustrated when the change we want is given to us in miniscule doses. What I didn’t realize is that the delegates share the same frustration. They want to stand up and shout from the rooftops the same way we do as students. But that is not how policy is made. It is created through carefully learning what battles to lose. Most importantly, it is created through knowing when to let challenges pass and when to stand up and stay standing.
These aren’t skills taught in a class. There is no Negotiations 1010 course offered at UConn. When I return to the states and face my public policy coursework, and hopefully my future career in policy, these skills are going to be vital for my success. I believe that young activists should start honing their communication skills as soon as possible. COP has taught me that to be successful and persuasive, being knowledgeable isn’t always enough. Top-down, end goal thinking, knowing how to hone confidence in discomfort, and knowing when to take a stand will take you far. It is eye opening, especially when coming from a background in activism, a culture shaped in doing and fighting for what is right no matter the drawbacks.
As we begin the final days of COP, I am so excited to see what new lessons this journey teaches me.
Claire Lawrence is a senior studying Applied Data Analysis and Public Policy.