A delegation of 22 students from UC San Diego will travel to Brazil to attend the COP30 climate summit, but the goal isn’t just to represent the university on the world stage.
“What we’re doing in Brazil, this seemingly faraway place, really is impacting our home here in San Diego,” said Ph.D. student Katrina Johnson.
The international conference, now in its 30th year, is drawing leaders, scientists, policymakers, business leaders and delegates from around the globe to Belem, near the Amazon River, to negotiate national responses to climate change. COP30, held by the United Nations, continues through Nov. 21.
Johnson and fellow Ph.D. student Victoria Boatwright, also part of the UCSD delegation, will share their research about global ocean noise and ocean-to-estuary interactions, respectively.
“San Diego will be on display,” Boatwright said.
In addition, UCSD’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography is co-organizing the Ocean Pavilion at COP30, which aims to champion the ocean’s role in climate action by sharing marine science and ocean-based solutions.
But the goal isn’t to just share scientific research. Delegates hope to find practical ways to bring new knowledge, resources and potentially new funding back to San Diego.
Johnson said that topics discussed at the global scale, such as better water quality or sustainable fisheries, are things that impact local life.
Researchers and scientists will be represented at COP30, and so will those who want to shape policy. Holly Harwood, a master’s student at UCSD’s School of Global Policy and Strategy, will track policy outcomes to make them accessible to the public.
“It’s really important to break down these international agreements and protocols that are going to be integrated at COP30 this year so it is mainstream news,” said Harwood, who will share COP30 update on her Instagram page, @ho.llyy. “Because these are really big decisions that are going to shape the future of environmental and social governance.”
And global issues being discussed in the COP30 arena are directly tied to local policy.
“The struggle for a healthy, affordable, clean city is one that people on the international stage are also fighting for,” she said. “This is about making sure that people have dignified jobs as our industries are changing. This is about making sure cities stay affordable and safe with climate change and rising waters.”
But the students are aware of the political hostility to climate change in the U.S. President Donald Trump denies climate change and the government for the first time is not sending a high-level delegation to the conference. But the students remain positive about the impact that other U.S. delegates can have.
“I am still very optimistic because I know a lot of the climate policy implementation happens on a local level anyway,” Harwood said. “The federal landscape isn’t the arena to be fighting in right now when it comes to pushing ambitious climate policy.”
Johnson said that San Diegans have a variety of options when it comes to climate change solutions, whether it’s coastal restoration projects, renewable energy campaigns, or even just reducing their own carbon footprint by using public transportation or composting.
“These are all little things that we can do to make a difference in our own small communities that then can add up to big change in a big global scale,” she said.
Ultimately, there’s a role for everyone, Harwood said, not just those with environmental, climate or biological expertise.
“This is an economic issue,” she said, “This is a business issue. This is also a people issue.”
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