By Aadit Shrivastava ‘26, News Staff Writer 

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is essentially the international body of climate change. Their most recent conference was COP27 (27th Conference of the Parties), which happened from November 6-20 in Egypt. COP conferences are used to hold nations accountable when completing their sustainability goals. National leaders come together to address collective and individual efforts in reducing several aggravating factors of climate change, such as carbon emissions.

Throughout COP27, the participants discussed several global warming instigators and set benchmarks to reach a clean energy, net-zero emission society. One neglected issue is the agricultural industry’s detrimental effect on climate change. Not only are current farming practices harmful for the environment (ie. Soil erosion, greenhouse gas emissions, eutrophication, etc.), but climate change’s effects are in turn causing decreases in crop production. COP27 has finally recognized these efforts, and different initiatives and goals have been established, like the Food and Agriculture for Sustainable Transformation Initiative (FAST) that aims to improve the agricultural industry by 2030 through methods such as agroecology (sustainable farming that utilizes natural/native species of plants) and agroforestry (growing plants alongside crops). Another significant contributor to climate change is carbon emissions, primarily due to fossil fuels. Many industries use fossil fuels, and many rich countries exploit other nations with coal and oil. The UNFCCC has devised more precise sustainability standards for organizations, and companies that greenwash – falsely claim to be sustainable – will receive consequences. Additionally, COP27 created new goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 45% by 2023 to avoid a 1.5° C increase in global temperatures.

While there was productive discussion about the necessary measures to mitigate the rising temperatures, there needs to be more unity and representation among all nations globally. First, one problem is the lack of funding for developing countries, especially those with many national crises affecting them such as rising coastlines causing floods. These countries, particularly ones in Africa and Oceania, have wanted help from wealthier countries for several years, but developed countries have ignored these issues to avoid having to fund other countries. While countries like Great Britain and New Zealand have finally agreed to lend money to struggling nations, there still needs to be more international support for other nations. Another issue is the representation of people in COP27. Green and Blue Committee (GBC), the environmental awareness club of Newark Academy, held a meeting where members discussed the conference. During the meeting, members of the club said that more people should have a chance to speak, as many nations only had executive leaders as their leading representatives. GBC wanted relatively well-known climate change specialists and political figures who place emphasis on sustainability to participate in the conference. These people would have more knowledge and focused interest in creating a cleaner environment. Overall, people need to make aiming for a sustainable future a priority regardless of circumstance, which means cooperating internationally. GBC also noticed that COP27 spent a notable amount of time reflecting on their unsuccessful milestones from COP26. Instead, COP27 could have focused more on creating clear conclusions to reach the necessary milestones. 

Among all these facts about COP27, the most critical takeaway is to be aware and take action individually. The GBC committee is one of the best ways to get involved in sustainability at Newark Academy. Sadie Trynin ’26, a member of GBC, suggested that creating sustainable habits and participating in initiatives are great ways to lower carbon footprint and raise awareness of climate change. “If everyone tries to lower their carbon footprint, the combined effort can make a considerable difference in global emissions. Just producing less waste, not wasting electricity and supporting sustainable brands is already doing something. On a larger scale, volunteering for different programs under larger initiatives is also a great way to help,” Trynin said. While the size of the climate change problem can be overwhelming, even a small change can have a big impact.