Hello! My name is Lexi Tater. This past November, I had the wonderful opportunity to attend COP 29 in Baku, Azerbaijan. COP stands for the Conference of Parties, which is held through the UNFCCC which is the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. COPs change their location annually, and they are held in November each year. The goals of COPs are to bring appointed negotiators from nearly every country around the world to work together in creating policies and negotiations to mitigate anthropogenic (human-caused) climate change -- but also to bring scholars / professionals together to share information regarding climate change.
A good example of a productive COP would be COP 21 held in Paris, France, in 2015. COP 21 resulted in the Paris Agreement, which introduced many proposals for both major greenhouse gas (GHG) emitting and developing countries.** One of these proposals was in Article 8 of the Paris Agreement, which highlighted the Loss and Damage Fund (LDF). The LDF aims to urge major emitting GHG countries to repay developing countries for damages caused to their environment, affecting their health, wellbeing, stability, environments, air and water pollution, etc. There were many protestors at COP 29 arguing for this cause as major emitting countries have not paid their debts that they agreed upon in 2015.
I was able to attend many sessions that focused on climate justice and the LDF. Some of these sessions were panels hosted by organizations, some were panels hosted by country representatives, and some were hosted by international companies. Dr. Mark Rouleau, interim chair for Michigan Technological University’s Social Sciences department, was able to accompany me and show me around COP 29. He also taught my Climate and Energy Policy course which allowed me to go to COP 29.
COP 29 was Dr. Rouleau’s third COP experience since he was able to go to COP 27 in Sharm el Sheik as well as COP 28 in Dubai. He commented on the differences.
"The biggest difference in this short span of time was the size [of the COPs]," Dr. Rouleau said. "Sharm el Sheik was a medium-sized COP -- a little bit overwhelming, but manageable. Dubai was massive and probably had too much going on. Baku was very small, very manageable, and much more approachable."
Since this was my first COP, I was surprised that Dr. Rouleau thought that this was more manageable. I thought there was so much going on at all times!
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The biggest, and arguably the most important, part of COPs are the negotiations held between countries. I like to explain these large-scale negotiations as "group essays" being worked on by representatives from nearly every country around the world. These negotiations focus on amending and creating agreements for countries to commit to mitigating the use of greenhouse gases or other environmentally unsafe and unsustainable practices.
Azerbaijan borders Russia and the Caspian Sea. The city at large was vibrant and fun. I learned so much about their culture and heritage. I had the wonderful opportunity to tour the old city of Baku, one of the UNESCO World Heritage sites.
Jess Czarnecki, a Ph.D. candidate in the Forest Science program at Michigan Technological University whom I was able to meet in Baku, said she attended COP 29 thanks to the Climate Leaders Academy (CLA), a National Science Foundation program funded in partnership with Vanderbilt University, Michigan Technological University and Boston University. 12 graduate students from across the country who applied to the program were accepted to go to COP 29.
"We also had faculty from Tennessee State University advising students on their climate class projects," Czarnecki said. "We participated in a course on climate policy in the fall of 2024, and then we participated in a research project with Oak Ridge National Lab by comparing carbon credits to data on carbon storage in the southeast United States."
"This was my first COP," Czarnecki added. "I was able to present the research with the other CLA students. We learned a lot about policy. To me, the importance of the IPCC’s (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s) journals, which influence policies to be created at COPs, was a key takeaway. I learned that research published in other journals is important, but publishing within the IPCC helps to influence intergovernmental policy change worldwide. One of the things that is crucial within academia is that we need to make research more palatable to a wider audience to make it better understood and accessible."
Overall, this adventure was incredible, and I learned so much. COP is an extremely important event for climate activists and negotiators alike to learn from one another about how to advocate for international policy change. I was able to meet a French negotiator on the plane back home and learned more about the LDF from a French perspective. It was incredible to meet her and others and to connect with them on LinkedIn.
COP is also extremely important as there are opportunities to listen to and better understand what developing countries are currently facing in the face of rapid climate change. I met such incredible people at COP, and I learned more about how I can use my knowledge and voice to advocate for environmental policy change.
*Editor's Note: Guest author Lexi Tater is a graduate student in Sustainable Communities at Michigan Technological University. Lexi will also be pursuing a Ph.D. in Environmental and Energy Policy at Michigan Tech this upcoming fall 2025 semester. We are pleased to publish this article on this Earth Day 2025 to remind our readers of the importance of international cooperation and communication on mitigating climate change.
