Nearly a dozen faculty, students, and staff from the School of Public and International Affairs are serving as delegates to the United Nations Climate Change Conference, which began this week in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Known officially as the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the meeting is the world’s primary multilateral decision-making forum on climate change, with almost every country in the world participating. The 28th annual such meeting, COP28 runs through December 12.

The 11 SPIA representatives are joining six others from the University to comprise the Princeton delegation. They are enjoying a first-hand opportunity to observe the proceedings of an increasingly important convening of government agencies, nonprofits, academic, industry, and nongovernmental organizations.

“Attending COP28 will provide our delegates with an invaluable opportunity to see global environmental governance in action and an unparalleled networking opportunity with practitioners in this field,” said Keely Swan, associate director of C-PREE. “Our group will be tracking a range of important issues this year, especially around facilitating energy transitions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, support for climate adaptation and resilience efforts in the Global South, and climate finance.”

There are several ways to follow the Princeton delegation. Students will contribute blog posts during the course of the conference, and the Center for Policy Research on Energy and the Environment (C-PREE) will be posting updates to its social media feeds. In addition, C-PREE will host a “Live from COP28” event on Monday, December 4, at 12:15 p.m. Eastern time. The Princeton delegates will discuss their experiences during the opening days of the meetings and the key issues they are monitoring. A Q&A portion will follow. The conversation will be livestreamed to 300 Wallace Hall. Finally, the student delegates will reflect on COP28’s key themes in a summary piece to be posted when they return.