Brown-Bag Insights on Copenhagen
February 2, 2010
The UN Climate Wall.
With the new semester under way, the Vermont Law School delegation to the U.N. Climate Conference shared their insights during a brown-bag lunch presentation on campus on Jan. 28.
Several students and professors of the nine-member delegation gave an overview of their time at the historic meeting, an experience that they chronicled in their "VLS in Copenhagen" blog.
Although the delegation reported being disappointed in the conference's failure to conclude with a substantive, legally binding accord, they departed with a renewed sense of commitment to gain ground on the domestic front.
Professor Teresa Clemmer opened the slide show and panel discussion with an overview of the alphabet soup of acronyms, terms, players, targets, timetables, security precautions and space crunch at the conference, which drew 45,000 attendees to the 15,000-capacity Bella Center.
The panel also included Assistant Professor Laurie Beyranevand and 3L students Anna Ellis, Lillian Kortlandt and Jessica Scott.
The VLS students said the first-hand experience brought to life the climate change issues they are studying. They said their coursework prepared them well for understanding the complex negotiations between the 193 nations at the conference.
The professors and students said they were especially struck by the efforts of an alliance of small island nations that tried to raise awareness of their vulnerability to the effects of global warming and a rise in sea level.
The representatives of Tuvalu and other nations most vulnerable to climate change argued for a binding agreement throughout the summit, using procedural maneuvering, scientific facts and emotional pleas to make their legal argument, Clemmer said.
"They were looking for real results instead of a political agreement," she said.
The VLS delegation heard the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change describe the results of recent climate studies that show the impacts of global warming are worse than predicted just a few years ago. The conference concluded with an accord that called for monitoring and reporting progress toward pollution-reduction goals, but it didn't commit industrialized or developing nations to firm targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Nonetheless, the summit was unprecedented in many ways, including the largest number of heads of state, nongovernmental organizations, demonstrators and other participants at a climate change meeting.
The VLS students and professors said the experience provided a better understanding of complex negotiations and the role of diplomacy and law in the process.
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