Roehampton students join Model COP26
- Monday, October 25, 2021
Two Roehampton students from our School of Life and Health Sciences joined the London Model COP26 in summer 2021, ahead of the global United Nations Climate Change Conference, taking place in Glasgow.
London Model COP26 bought together a group of students to represent countries and organisations across the globe, to learn about climate change negotiations and the issues that arise between different parties. Emma Carter and Zuzanna Soltysiak, who both graduated from BSc Zoology this year, applied to take part following a recommendation by Prof. Anne Robertson from our School of Life and Health Sciences.
Emma Carter said “I have always had a passion for the environment, conservation and climate change which is what lead me to choose my degree and career pathway to begin with. Since studying at Roehampton, I have learnt more about climate change and feel strongly about being part of the global solution. In my own time I actively try to be environmentally friendly and live sustainability, so as much as this event has solidified a career direction for me, the big discussions that were had on the day have also influenced other areas of my life.”
Because of her passion to combat climate change, Emma wanted to attend the event to hear from experts and learn what decisions are up for negotiation at COP26 and how they get decided. She added that “within these discussions between countries and global companies we were able to bring fresh ideas and learn about other perspectives which was an important life skill.”
When asked about how her time at Roehampton helped her prepare for the negotiations, Emma also added that “it gave me the research skills I needed to go out and learn about brand new topics and question other people’s research and ideas. It gave me the confidence to engage in formal academic conversations and the ability to build a strong case and present a clearly structured, well referenced argument. This event put my knowledge into action and for that I am very grateful. It has shown me that this is a discussion that I want to be a part of.”
The University of Roehampton has a long-standing commitment to sustainability as an institution and a number of our academics, working across a diverse range of disciplines, have made climate action a key focus of their work. Four professors have come together from across the University to lead the Roehampton Climate Network, raising the profile and urgency of knowledge creation and dissemination in this area.
Find out more about the Roehampton Climate Network here.