Nine University of Chicago students experienced three unforgettable packed days at COP30, the United Nations’ international climate change conference, in Belém, Brazil this November.
The Institute for Climate and Sustainable Growth sponsored a cohort of six College students and three master’s students from the Harris School of Public Policy and Booth School of Business, who were accompanied by Institute staff, as part of the annual delegation to the event.
Each student set their own schedule, attending a full day of panels featuring climate professionals from around the world. The dozens of concurrent talks provided international perspectives on climate finance, technology, agriculture, health care, and more.
“This was ‘the COP of implementation’ and it was fascinating to see countries go from high-level strategy to actually getting things done on the ground. Unsurprisingly, funding is the greatest implementation challenge, and I loved the conversations between public and private sector leaders about how to reduce the cost of capital to increase the availability and speed of climate financing,” says Eliza Beckerman-Lee, Booth/Harris ’27.
Students also had a front-row seat to live UN meetings and negotiations. Attendees observed discussions on topics including the Adaptation Fund, Loss and Damage Fund, and other international climate dialogues.
“Negotiations may be long, tedious, and riddled with minutiae, but in watching the passion with which delegates spoke about the environmental values of their country, I take a renewed, vested interest in the legal frameworks that so importantly shape the future of emission reductions in Illinois, the United States, and the rest of the world,” says Davis Turner, College ’26.
Between sessions, students networked with peers from other universities and climate professionals from across the globe. The cohort shared meals with employees of energy company Rystad Energy and students from The Munich University of Applied Sciences (HM).
They also dined with EPIC’s own Christa Hasenkopf, Director of the Clean Air Program, and Amir Jina, Assistant Professor at the Harris School of Public Policy, who were presenting at COP. Institute Distinguished Fellow Andrew Light, Former Assistant Secretary of Energy for International Affairs at the U.S. Department of Energy, spoke with the students following a fireside chat event.
The students’ experiences at COP provided greater depth into what they have been learning in the classroom. Of this, Laura Bornhoevd, College ’28, a new Climate and Sustainable Growth Major, says: “A lot of my classes have been focused on international climate agreements and the negotiations that precede them, meaning that the COP process has been a central part of our discussions. The opportunity to attend COP30 has added an invaluable layer of nuance to my understanding of how this process works to create international climate action (or in some cases, a lack thereof).”
Bornhoevd further reflects, “Overall, going to COP allowed me to see the main topics of my major first-hand to better understand what happens during the actual negotiations at COP, as well as the work that is being done by NGOs, businesses, and other stakeholders in the climate space.”
Read daily reflections and photos from COP attendees at our Daily Diaries page. View bios and quotes from each student on our COP30 delegation page.
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