Vision

Augment the Paris Agreement with better cooperation among nations who willfully agreed. Encourage opposing parties to take an agreeable stance with socio-economic incentives.

Metrics for success  

A well-informed presentation on the history of the Paris Agreement and how it could have been augmented given the eventual existential threat of the climate crisis. The increase in knowledge before and after the research project shall be measured by the outcome product. Finally, relate our research to the Sustainable Development Goals, with a philosophical discussion on sustainability, investigating the implication of the anthropocentric mentality of sustainability.

Final report 

We started with an initial sketch of a contractual solution to the Prisoners’ Dilemma, applied to cooperation towards perpetual human survival given the present climate change trajectory. Augmenting the Paris Agreement with punitive measures, such as carbon tax, would have improved cooperation among state actors because of the common knowledge of cooperation through little to no greenhouse gas emission is a better strategy in terms of self-interest. Besides the aggressive measures with punishment, we also investigated possible measures with positive rewards. How green finance could have incentivized the energy industry to transition into renewability, given the present situation, is also understood.

Money, the most salient reward of a free market, is a foundation of capitalism and resulted in the current situation in the food production industry with profit-maximization. The immorality of intensive farming, driven by a cost-benefit analysis on monetary gain, brings in practical issues when we wanted a solution. Given that the politics of activism are much hindered by economic consideration, we hope to go beyond awareness-raising and contribute to policy-making and global governance with our understanding of decision, game, energy, and environment. Actors with public legally conferred power are accountable to the public, and the measurability of their achievement with their outcomes enables a fairer assessment. Sustainability, development, and their interactions are measurable and comparable across time. We struggle to emphasize dignity in our economic pursuit and never tire to bring in human rights. What seems anthropocentric systematically interacts humanity with nature, accentuating our agency embedded in our environment. Our findings have been posted on our blog for further elaboration: Climate Action Justice.

Vision

Success means we’d have spoken to the city council to understand the detail of Section 11 better, to understand better where gaps exist, and find suitable solutions to these challenges. We’d have done so via a critical analysis of outlined policy and comprehensive research into local, council, and governmental programs. Finally, we’d have spoken to the university about their role in the policy and the best ways to support the council and inspire them to make their own commitments in this area. 

Metrics for success  

We would like to have spoken to the University and York City Council regarding Section 11. The measurement of success for our project would be engagement. This could be from the council looking at the gaps in section 11 and fixing them; the University recognizing their responsibility in implementing the policy; or changing local attitudes towards climate change. We could also create an informative video and present it to environmental students in the extracurricular club we run.

Final report 

We participated in the 2020/2021 Global Climate Forum upon suggestion from the University of York’s Environment Department, hoping to network with like-minded individuals from around the world. Our project focused on Section 11 of the City of York Council’s Climate Change Action Plan: critiquing its contents and feasibility to understand its format’s weaknesses. We made suggestions for improvements to ensure the Council better fulfill their role in mitigating climate change in the city and hold them accountable to their sustainability commitments. Our methods included reviewing and critically analyzing the documents associated with the plan, liaising with council members to obtain further detail, and attending public conferences hosted by the Council regarding the project. We then narrowed down the report to focus on three key areas for improvement: retrofitting, transport, and carbon capture. An extensive literature review was conducted into these areas, and the findings summarized can be found in the report we submitted. Points to note include:

• The suggestion of a less bureaucratic retrofitting scheme.
• Continued improvement to public transport infrastructure.
• Use of afforestation as an alternative to carbon capture and storage.

Upon reflection, we have all gained valuable skills throughout this project, including remote working, effective communication, team coordination, and most importantly, managing our time efficiently alongside our degree work for Human Geography & Environment. In addition, this opportunity has allowed us to connect with students and academics worldwide- something unavailable to us without this forum.

Vision

We formed a community of School of International Relations (SIR) students willing to solve ecological problems. They were involved in various discussions on the environmental agenda through the Club’s meetings, attending lectures, and participating in our UN model. They also trained their skills in writing articles that were published in the Club’s online magazine. Moreover, we provided them with lists of career opportunities (volunteering projects, contests, conferences, and internships) to proceed in this field.

Metrics for success  

We held one UN model and five events focused on environmental youth action, including lectures with experts. We invited students from three other universities in St. Petersburg to get a better view of the ecological agenda in other campuses and to create new partnerships. We published two issues of our online magazine with articles written by eight students, as well as 23 career opportunities. We organized a social media campaign and gained 64 followers on Instagram, posting 24 posts on environment and career opportunities.

Final report 

We have fulfilled most of our plans. The only difficult thing was to find people genuinely interested in ecology and climate change. Even when we found people, they were not always ready to participate in the discussions. We have made many efforts to gather permanent members in our club who are ready to actively develop this area: Our number of club members surpassed the scientific community of our faculty. As planned, we conducted outreach activities through discussions, lectures, and meetings with experts.  We also made connections with students from other universities in our city and interacted with their clubs. We ran a Model UN that focused on the environmental agenda; we released two online magazines where students posted their articles. We also included information about current internships and volunteer projects. We actively ran our Instagram page in two languages and created an attractive profile. While our online presence was strong, we got a lot fewer subscribers than we had planned. The topic that unites international relations and the environment turned out to be relatively narrow, so it wasn’t easy to find a genuinely interested audience. However, we do not plan to stop. We will continue to promote our ideas and look for our audience among students from other cities of Russia to create a solid community, from which competitive international environmental specialists will subsequently emerge who will work in international environmental organizations for the benefit of the world.

Vision

We strive to use our podcast to provide listeners who are interested in climate/atmospheric science related issues with relevant knowledge for taking effective actions, to enthuse people who are initially not, and to bridge the gap between researchers and the public by stimulating and facilitating communications and discussions. To achieve this, we aim to present up-to-date scientific advances in the field fused with trending issues in the news and pop.

Metrics for success  

By the end of the program, we aim to have produced at least 12 episodes. It is difficult to set goals for the number of subscriptions, listens or followers on social media, but we will aim for a steady growth in these metrics. We will also report feedback and stories shared by our audiences in the monthly reports. If we do get enough audience, we would like to organize some online and offline activities to directly interact with audiences. We hope to host well-known guests on the show to boost our numbers and our engagement.

Final report 

We have started the first Chinese speaking podcast on climate and atmospheric sciences No Such Climate, available on all major platforms. We have aired a trailer and 11 full-length episodes (up to 90 minutes). Topics covered range from the climate impacts of food and food waste, sustainable fashion, Greta Thunberg and climate justice to China’ s carbon neutral target and air pollution issues. In some episodes, we had guests who specialized in the area of focus. So far, we have gained above 2,000 subscriptions across the most popular platforms in China, including Xiaoyuzhou, Ximalaya, Lizhi fm, Netease Music and QQ Music. On Xiaoyuzhou, two of our episodes appeared in the daily recommended episodes on the front page. On listennotes, we have a Listen Score of 29, ranked top 10% globally.

We have been actively engaging with our listeners, both in the comment sections on the platforms and via our social media accounts and email. Some of our topics had been inspired by our listeners’ questions and feedback. We are excited to see the emergence of other Chinese podcasts with a similar focus but different perspectives, for example one that focuses specifically on China’s pathway to carbon neutrality. We are in close contacts with producers of these podcasts and collaborations are underway.

We are planning to continue with this podcast and look forward to exploring more topics and producing more in-depth contents, as the knowledge of both our listeners and ourselves grow.

Vision

If successful, there will be a greater understanding of COP26 and current climate policy and its implications amongst UK students and young people more widely. We will have created a free educational tool that includes contributions from a community of experts and can be completed and shared by a diverse range of individuals. Our broader aim is that equipped with their newfound knowledge of this specific event, students will be inspired to take part in further lobbying and active political participation.

Metrics for success  

We will be using a combination of qualitative and quantitative data to measure our success. By monitoring the clicks, views, and impression metrics for our educational content, we will gain a broad insight into the extent of our reach and engagement with the course. This will be complemented by qualitative data derived from surveys, polls, and conversations with our community members, allowing for a deeper analysis of the content’s impact and whether it has empowered students.

Final report 

Our project is to create a free, accessible young people’s guide to COP26, intending to demystify confusing parts of climate change policy and empower young people in the process. Over the past six months, the team has diligently interviewed a myriad of contributors: academics, including fellows from the COP26 Universities Network, youth activists, and university students. Their insight on a wide range of topics such as climate finance, carbon markets, and the role that young people play have been woven into our online guide. In addition to embedded educational videos, the guide will also feature a Community/Activism toolkit curated by the student-led Glasgow University Environmental Sustainability Team. One unforeseen challenge was how long it took us to interview our contributors and write the final website copy. However, due to our flexible timeline, we were able to accommodate this. In addition to planning and writing the guide, we have dedicated time to develop a coordinated communications strategy, and the team has been slowly building our profile on our social media, expanding our audience. Our team was successfully awarded funding from the University of Edinburgh’s SRS Department, which we have used for web and graphic design. To ensure broader engagement and dissemination of our guide, we have elicited interest from various groups and civil society organizations who have confirmed they can share the project with their networks. Our next step is the official launch of our guide, available at: https://guidetocop26.com/.

Vision

Our Vision is to create a platform to develop the leadership and knowledge of high school students from the coast of Peru by teaching them about climate change threats facing our ocean. We seek to provide them different tools (knowledge and leadership) to propose solutions to become the future ocean leaders of Peru.

Metrics for success  

We will measure our success with the number of registered and attendees for the Virtual Summit “Encuentro de Jóvenes Latinoamericanos por el Clima.” Also, the number of students registered and attendees to the “Developing Ocean Leaders of Peru” sessions.

Final report 

We have exceeded the expectations proposed at the beginning, teaching the participants about how climate change directly affects the ocean and at the same time strengthening their soft skills so that they can become leaders. We also corroborated this with the panel in which they participated and gave their opinion and experience of the project despite the obstacles we encountered, such as time availability and lack of support from the municipalities of South Lima. However, the NGOs gave us their support at the final summit of the event. Our calls were through social networks, using Zoom for the sessions, and Hoping for the last event.

On the other hand, this project taught us how to delegate roles and ask for help when we need it and develop teaching skills and use innovative virtual platforms. 

As a team, we hope to move on to the next phase and represent our country and show our results.

Vision

My goal was to encourage my followers to be more conscious about their purchases and the procedures they support by purchasing from fast fashion brands. In addition, I wanted to demonstrate the ability to stay on trend and express your identity without damaging the environment and break the stigma surrounding sustainable fashion. Finally, I also aimed to raise awareness of how damaging procedures in the fashion industry currently are. 

Metrics for success  

By implementing a weekly newsletter, occupants of the selected student hall would be made aware of their energy consumption and carbon footprint. We will consider a constant or increasing opening rate of over 50% to indicate that the newsletter effectively sparks the students’ engagement in sustainable energy consumption. In addition, we will survey the students of the selected hall before the roll-out of the newsletter. 

Final report 

I believe the project was a success as I was able to communicate key issues in the fashion industry in an effective way. In total I gained over 1,000 followers and my posts reached various accounts. The main barriers revolved around trying to engage my followers with sustainable issues without shaming or scaring, to avoid any unfollows. To address this issue, I watched my language closely and aimed to educate rather than tell people what to do. I successfully communicated with a community of like-minded people, and those who are new to the slow fashion movement. I was willing to engage in conversation and people were grateful for posts regarding fabrics and raising awareness of green washing.

Vision

Our overarching goal involves spotlighting intersectional sustainability efforts at Yale and New Haven to normalize and build sustainable lifestyle habits. Such individual actions have consequences that echo up the chain. It is our sincere hope that these new resources, both material and programmatic, will normalize a culture of sustainability at Yale that students are inspired to carry with them through and beyond their four years here.

Metrics for success  

Yale Sustainability has student sustainability literacy data. The Yale Colllege Council also releases biannual student surveys that can ask questions to measure the indirect, long-term impacts of our programming. We will measure the direct impact through views on our sustainability orientation videos, reads on our Yale Daily News op-ed, and waste created at move-out. In addition, we will interview a handful of students from each class to understand their experiences with these new sustainability resources qualitatively.

Final report 

We aimed to concentrate sustainability efforts at Yale and in New Haven to build sustainable lifestyle habits. While holding a single sustainability orientation session for first-year students would meet this goal, it would also contribute to the already overwhelming nature of first-year orientation programming. Therefore, our team of Yale undergrads worked alongside student groups and the Yale College Council to build a multi-pronged approach aiming to continuously orient students to living sustainably at Yale, in New Haven, and for the rest of their lives.

First, we increased the visibility of sustainability efforts to students. Through our Small Steps, Big Impacts Initiative, we wrote op-eds published in the Yale Daily News, designed social media infographics, solicited climate action through monthly Climate Action Pledges, compiled a Sustainability Resources Handbook, and gave away kits filled with low impact living necessities. Second, we outlined an opt-in sustainability orientation for first-year counselors, key resources our first years look to when coming to Yale. Third, we laid the groundwork to collaborate with another Global Univeristy Climate Forum team to bring interactive climate education workshops to Yalies. Finally, we measure progress through the Office of Sustainability’s sustainability literacy survey and the Yale College Council’s surveys to the student body.

Continuous exposure to small sustainability initiatives such as these will make our generation of scientists, engineers, policymakers, teachers, investors, and creators think critically about these issues as we head out into the world. In addition, it is our sincere hope that these new resources, both material and programmatic, will normalize a culture of sustainability at Yale that students are inspired to carry with them through and beyond their years here.