Binghamton University students make impact at UN Climate Change Conference

Binghamton University is dedicated to climate justice and sustainability — and the unprecedented growth of its students’ involvement on the global scale proves just how much, as they end the year with direct contributions to the most well-known climate conference in the world.

Each year, the United Nations hosts the UN Climate Change Conference, also known as the Conference of Parties (COP) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). This year’s conference was the 28th of its kind and was held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, from Nov. 30 until Dec. 12.

The COP is the world’s only multilateral decision-making forum on climate, and almost every country in the world holds membership. The conference brings together representatives from these nations to discuss and agree on policies to limit global temperature rise, help vulnerable communities at risk of climate displacement, and achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. This year, in a first, nearly 200 countries agreed to move away from planet-warming fossil fuels.

Out of the 70,000 international delegates from every profession (including government officials, activists, youth and members of indigenous communities), three were students from Binghamton University’s very own Kaschak Institute.

These students were able, for the first time in University history, to directly impact the negotiations through their roles as rapporteurs during the Global Conference on Gender and Environment Data and supporting roles during the Gender-Responsive Climate Action: Building Evidence for Change side event and the UNCCD side event “Experiences and resourcefulness of women on the frontlines combatting drought.”

Ana Sanchez-Bachman, Lívia Maciel Braga and Cynthia Tan all attended COP28 with the support of the Kaschak Institute. Lorena Aguilar, the executive director of the institute, and a board member, Rachel Aron, who serves as social development and ESG advisor, also attended COP28 along with the three students.

The three students come from very different backgrounds, but all share the same goal: climate justice.

Sanchez-Bachman is a student assistant at the Kaschak Institute and a doctoral student studying sociocultural anthropology. Her work specifically focuses on the effects of climate change on migrating communities, in locations such as Guatemala and the U.S.-Mexico border. Earlier this year, she traveled to Guatemala to support their government in developing a Climate Change Gender Action Plan.

“COP28 introduced me to an understanding of data and the need for disaggregated data on climate change that I had not previously encountered at so large a scale,” Sanchez-Bachman said. “At times, it can seem that the work produced in scholarly journals, or that which focuses on singular communities, is too small a scale to be used for greater impact. At COP28, it was clear that such work has a place on the international level and we can indeed make our voices heard in a way that provides valuable information to decision-makers.”

Maciel Braga is a non-traditional student, originally from Brazil. She completed her undergraduate studies in 2006 in electrical engineering and began working as a federal civil service agent in her home county. In 2019, however, she decided to follow a new career path, working in the field of finance, where she became interested in sustainable infrastructure projects. After 13 years, she decided to go back to school for her master’s degree in sustainable communities. In fall 2022, she heard about the Kaschak Institute, which she later joined.

“I mostly remember the first day; we participated in an event promoted by UN Women, related to the gender data gap. I remember entering the room, which looked like the UN rooms that you see on TV,” Maciel Braga said. “I realized that we were part of something. And considering where I come from, it wasn’t on my list to do something like that. For me, it was a remarkable feeling— I’m really proud of that moment.”

Tan is a sophomore majoring in public policy and minoring in economics. She worked closely with the Kaschak Institute as a research assistant until August 2023. During her time there, she and another student developed a comprehensive Climate Change CV, reviewing 20 years of campus climate research. At 19, she was also one of the youngest delegates at the conference.

“I don’t think that any amount of time would be enough to talk about how incredible this COP was for me. It was my first exposure to something as big as this event on the global stage,” Tan said.

During COP27, which was held in November 2022 in Egypt, the executive director of the Kaschak Institute was present and served in a mentorship capacity for women delegates from the Global South. The Institute was asked to continue its mentorship this year; as a result, government officials from all over the world, representatives from various organizations and a selected group of students from the University (including Sanchez-Bachman, Tan and Maciel Braga) participated in a three-day workshop at Binghamton in July to train negotiators.

“Prior to our participation, a lot of work had to be done. We had different preparatory meetings as COP28 observers; We’ve been working since the beginning of last year with negotiators, and the SUNY delegation was involved in negotiations unlike any other universities from the U.S.,” Aguilar said. “We worked a path with negotiators to directly impact what was happening, and the outcome on the topic of gender equality and women empowerment linked to climate change.”

Overall, the group participated in several sessions to prepare and advance their knowledge, including a meeting with the Chancellor of the State University of New York (SUNY). The institute also cohosted various workshops before and during COP28 to help define the elements for the next gender action plan (GAP) of the UNFCCC, the third of its kind.

Although this COP was one of the largest — seen by many as the COP of the Global South — much work still needs to be done. Yet Sanchez-Bachman, who was initially worried about feeling disheartened about the outlook on climate upon leaving the event, said she was pleasantly surprised at the depth of work being done. Groups from every nation, and every profession — including indigenous groups — were collaborating, discussing and prioritizing goals.

“You have private industry there, national governments, nonprofits and some activist groups,” Sanchez-Bachman said. “While we were there, it was a lot of more strait-laced government activity, but then you’d have demonstrations and calls for anti-war protests. I think that it can seem like policy is moving very slowly on climate change policy, and these international conversations don’t get a lot done. On one hand — negotiations were slow. But thousands of people are working incredibly hard to make a difference here in a variety of ways, which includes private industry as much as it includes activist groups.”

For Maciel Braga, COP28 presented a unique opportunity. Her connection to the Brazilian government allowed her to participate in additional meetings.

“As part of the delegate party, I could assess some meetings that observers couldn’t,” Maciel Braga said. “I had this premium access to some rooms because it’s just government representatives that can make the final decisions on topics and documents.”

This opportunity was important to Maciel Braga, who hopes to one day return to Brazil or continue on in the climate space able to consult on topics related to her sustainability studies, like those discussed in these meetings.

“I’m trying to have experiences that I can bring to the way I analyze. I understand that it’s beyond the issues and subjects,” she said. “You can be any kind of specialist, but when we talk about climate change, we put all these areas on the table; and I try to think about the analytical tools that we can develop considering our knowledge and how we are improving ourselves to work and to address them.”

In fact, for the students and the Kaschak Institute, COP28 is just the start. The Institute has been recognized as the leading technical support for gender negotiators from Latin America and Caribbean countries. It will also collaboratively develop a first-of-a-kind monitoring tool known as the Gender Equality and Climate Policy Scorecard with UN Women. The Scorecard will collect comparative data on gender-related measures to evaluate progress in integrating gender equality into national climate policy action; the Kaschak Institute hopes that through workshops in the upcoming years, it will become the preferred measurement gender-work-tool under the UNFCCC.

“As an Institute, we are going to continue working on social justice in these international processes while fostering high-impact learning opportunities for students,” Aguilar said. “There will be many negotiations concerning sustainable development in the coming two years. We will continue to promote social justice and equality for all women and girls domestically and internationally to ensure a more just, fair, and equitable world.”