Four Pomona College students attended and participated in the 29th United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Conference of Parties (COP29), held Nov. 11-22 in Baku, Azerbaijan. The 197 Parties to the Convention now include every United Nations member country.
“COP29 felt like an extraordinary opportunity—something I never imagined I’d experience as an undergraduate,” says Laura Jaramillo ’25, an international relations and environmental analysis major whose focus is on the intersection of environmental security and political stability. “Engaging with policymakers, activists and researchers helped me make connections I never thought I could make,” she says, and it “showed me the human side of climate action.” During the conference Jaramillo met government ministers from Azerbaijan, El Salvador, Kazakhstan and Tajikistan.
Public policy analysis/economics major Gina Yum ’25 says she has “always been passionate about food and environmental policy” and wanted to learn more about how agrifood systems are negotiated internationally. While studying abroad in South Africa in the spring of 2024, Yum researched the relationship between food insecurity and the use of the social safety nets. At Pomona, she restarted the Food Recovery Network and works as the head EcoRep in the College’s Sustainability Office.
Yum spoke on a COP29 panel alongside U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Thomas Vilsack and the United Arab Emirates minister of climate change and environment. She came back from the conference with new professional connections and several job offers.
As a high school student, science, technology and society major Sascha Weiss ’26 cofounded the High School Sustainability Guide. That later led to a partnership with the Joedy Foundation based in Nairobi, which helps a network of schools and students in Kenya on a range of educational initiatives and community projects.
“I plan to leverage both the insights and partnerships from the conference to continue collaborating with local students and communities to pilot programs for clean cooking technologies in the schools we’ve been working with in western Kenya,” says Weiss. She notes that replacing woodburning stoves can help prevent forest destruction and improve both the environment and public health.
Selene Li ’25, a geology and environmental analysis major, is keenly interested in the decarbonization and carbon dioxide removal (CDR) industries. A major focus of COP29 was on how to set standards for an international carbon market. “I attended several events related to industrial decarbonization and CDR,” she says. “Competition and policy coherence were highlighted as both barriers to and drivers of decarbonization, which underscores the importance of diplomacy and international collaboration.”
Seeing climate issues through many lenses
Professor of Politics Heather Williams and Thomas McHenry, visiting professor of environmental analysis, accompanied the four Pomona students and one from Harvey Mudd College to COP29. “The COP is the most important and optimistic climate gathering, as it’s global and comprehensive,” says McHenry. “But it also suffers from all the challenges and obstacles to achieving solutions to global warming that have faced the UN since World War II.” Attending such a major international event allowed students to see climate issues up close and through many lenses, he notes, as well as meet climate activists from around the world.
Williams says that Pomona has been an official observer organization at the UNFCCC since 2008, thanks to the leadership of Richard Worthington, now an emeritus professor of politics. He led delegations to COP, most notably to Copenhagen in 2009 and Paris in 2015. A generous gift by Pomona alumni Michael Rucker ’89 and Karen Lyon Gibbs ’91 made the 2024 COP attendance and participation possible.
For several students, a major takeaway from the experience was a greater understanding of the complexity of climate change action. Li noticed that “there’s a lot of nuance that needs to be taken into account. Each stakeholder has their own interest to prioritize, often conflicting with the goals of others.” Weiss observed that she now has “a clearer understanding of the complexities and nuances of international climate negotiations, as well as the interconnected ecosystem of climate action.”
Students also saw the value of local efforts. “A key insight for me was the significant gap between global solidarity and local implementation,” says Jaramillo. “Local governments emerge as the most reliable agents of tangible change and collaboration.” Weiss says she has increased appreciation for “the pivotal role of subnational diplomacy in implementing initiatives that resonate far beyond local boundaries.”
Reasons for hope
Pomona’s COP29 participants came back to Pomona with reason for optimism. “I felt both frustrated by the slow speed at which climate policy is created as well as inspired by the amazing activists and policymakers who are dedicated to pursuing innovative climate action,” says Yum.
The experience at COP29 left Weiss with hope and Jaramillo cautiously optimistic. “While the slow progress of negotiations highlighted the significant financial and political challenges ahead,” Jaramillo says, “the collaborative spirit of youth delegates, grassroots activists, and local governments was truly inspiring. Their passion and creativity demonstrated that meaningful change is achievable.”
“Building a sustainable and equitable future,” Jaramillo concludes, “is not only possible but within our grasp.”