SERC COP27  Delegation 

Funded by The Green Initiative Fund, a delegation of ten Berkeley students were selected by the Student Environmental Resource Center (SERC) to attend the annual UN Climate Conference, also known as COP27, in Sharm el Sheik, Egypt. COP27 brings state leaders together to discuss successes, failures, and progress of climate change action by nation and worldwide. Additionally to states, members of civil society such as academics, NGO’s, grassroots organizers, business leaders, and climate scientists were also invited to host pavilions to showcase their concerns with or contributions to climate change policy and mitigation. The UC Berkeley delegation was able to network with conference participants as well as speak at a press conference highlighting youth concerns on climate conversations at the COP.

Over a period of two weeks negotiations occur to establish targets and goals for climate mitigation. Previous policies that have arisen from COP conferences include the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Climate Agreement. Topics that were at the forefront of COP27 discussions included loss and damage, the progress on the 2030 Paris objectives, and climate justice in Africa—where the COP is being held. Policy developed at this year’s COP is ongoing and will likely be announced at the end of the second week.

You can view the recorded SERC COP27 Press Conference here. Stay tuned for more updates from our delegates on their experiences at COP27 in Spring 2023.

Meet Our Delegation:

Carmela Wilkins, Graduate Student, Master of Design 

Jade Marum, Third Year, majoring in Environmental Science and minoring in African American studies 

John (Chan) Lam, Fourth Year majoring in Political Science

Khyati Garg, Senior, majoring in Chemical Engineering 

Mari Wong, Senior, double majoring in Political Science, with an emphasis in International Relations, and Conservation Resource Studies 

Nia Jones, Staff Advisor, Director of Community Engagement and Outreach for the Civil & Environmental Engineering department

Peter Pham, undergraduate majoring in Public Health and Molecular Environmental Biology 

Sam Lubow, Staff Advisor, Sustainability Coordinator at Residential Student Services Program

Sharon Daraphonhdeth, Staff Advisor, Director of SERC

Syndey Shaw, First Year student 

Tatiana Butte, Third Year, majoring in Human Geography major and minoring in Public Policy 

Tvetene Carlson, Graduate Student, Environmental Engineering 

Yasmeen Fahmy [Yes-mean, Fah-mee], double majoring in Political Science in Theory and Middle Easter Languages and Cultures

Additional Resources about the COP:

What is the COP: https://unfccc.int/process/bodies/supreme-bodies/conference-of-the-parties-cop

Professor Dan Kammen on the COP: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nckch_X_Z3g

COP26: https://www.youtube.com/c/COP26

COP27 Goals: https://cop27.eg/en/egpresidency#presidency-programme