At COP25, I attended a press conference given by the Global CCS Institute entitled Destination Net Zero: The Role of Carbon Capture and Storage in a Net Zero Economy. The two speakers were the think tank’s CEO, Brad Page, and CCS expert and Columbia senior researcher Julio Friedmann. The speakers stressed that 2019 was aContinue reading “Carbon Removal at COP25: Part II”

This year’s COP was the longest ever – scheduled to end on Friday, December 13th, it finally concluded on Sunday afternoon, with several key decisions, particularly those regarding Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, postponed for next year because negotiators failed to reach consensus on how to move forward. “The international community lost an importantContinue reading “What Was Negotiated (and What Wasn’t) at COP25”

Raising Ambition, Transforming Industry with CCUS This week, I attended a panel event at the U.K. pavilion co-hosted by the U.K. and the International Energy Agency (IEA) entitled “Transforming Industry: developing carbon capture, utilization, and storage clusters”. The panel declared that a net zero economy isn’t possible with CCUS (carbon capture, utilization, and storage, alsoContinue reading “Carbon Removal at COP25: Part I”

Today, I attended a Global Climate Action event hosted by Reece Pacheco, the Executive Director for WSL PURE, the World Surf League’s nonprofit focused on ocean conservation. His lecture was entitled “Courage and Commitment for the Climate – Surfing, Sustainability, and UNFCCC Sports for Climate Action”. In it, he discussed his work using sports asContinue reading “Sports and Climate Action at COP25”

Today, I was fortunate enough to attend a recap of the UNFCCC (UN Framework Convention on Climate Change) Symposium on Climate Law and Governance that occurred before we arrived in Madrid. Speakers included the general counsel for the Green Climate Fund and lawyers who represent the UNFCCC in various roles, as well as several nations,Continue reading “Legal Solutions to Climate Change at COP25”

Unfortunately, no one representing the United States’ executive branch attended COP25 this year. However, the U.S. did have a meaningful presence at the conference. A bicameral delegation of fifteen Democratic members of Congress led by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi participated in the conference to affirm that at least some members of our federalContinue reading “The United States at COP25”

Today at COP25, I attended the Marrakech Partnership Global Climate Action (MPCGA) Roundtable Event which focused on the UN Sustainable Development Goals #14 and #15, Life Below Water and Life on Land, and linkages between marine and coastal ecosystems and human activities. The panelists advocated for an ecosystem-based or nature based approach towards building resilientContinue reading “Nature-Based Approaches to Coastal Restoration and Resilience at COP25”

It’s finally here! Along with fifteen classmates and peers from Emory College of Arts and Sciences, Rollins School of Public Health, Laney Graduate School, and Goizueta Business School, as well as our amazing Climate Change and Society professor Dr. Eri Saikawa, I’ve landed in Madrid, had great tapas, and am ready to take on COP25.Continue reading “COP25: Finally Here!”

My reflection on a lecture by Dr. Emanuele Di Lorenzo on November 1, 2019 As climate change progresses, regional climate variability is rising and anomalous weather conditions in marine ecosystems are becoming increasingly prevalent; in fact, greater climate variance favors more anomalies in atmospheric and oceanic weather conditions. One such example is “The Blob”, aContinue reading “Rising Climate Variance and Tendency for Global Synchrony in Marine Ecological Systems”

My reflection on a lecture by Dr. Jennifer Seavey on November 22, 2019 Dr. Seavey began her lecture by describing how seabirds have long been symbolically meaningful and practically useful to humans. Nowadays, seabirds are an important signifier of marine health – they are at the top of the marine food chain, so their conditionContinue reading “Seabird Conservation in a Warming Ocean”