Salve Regina delegates to attend global climate change conference

For nearly three decades, the United Nations has brought together almost every country on earth for global climate summits called Conference of Parties (COP). This year, three members of the Salve Regina community will attend COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland.

The delegates are Dr. Jameson Chace, professor in the Department of Biology and Biomedical Sciences; Florencia Reiche Blanco, a double major in environmental studies as well as sociology and anthropology; and Cassidy Curry, an environmental studies major with a minor religious and theological studies.

Dr. Jameson Chace

“It is an amazing and humbling opportunity to participate in undoubtably the most significant global environmental issue of our time,” Chace said. “The significance will largely depend on what nations do or don’t do before 2025 and will be reflected upon by later generations as a moment of universal triumph or colossal failure. That Salve Regina has the opportunity to bring any small part of mercy to this international affair might be the most significant thing we can do.”

Salve Regina was admitted as an observer organization to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) through the advocacy of the late Dr. Peter Liotta, former executive director of the Pell Center for International Relations and Public Policy and contributing member of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

In 2019, Salve Regina’s institutional membership in the UNFCCC as an admitted observer was renewed by President Kelli J. Armstrong and the Office of Mission Integration, paving the way for the University to send a delegation to COP26.

Curry and Reiche Blanco have both been interested in climate change issues since they were in high school, and both chose Salve Regina for its environmental studies program.

“COP26 has different levels of discussions that focus on areas and problems around climate change,” Curry said. “Each day has a different theme – so there are more economic-based solutions, there are more cultural-based solutions and more social solutions that they discuss in these meetings. There’s also a lot of different forums and other things to do on the side.”

Reiche Blanco, who is originally from Coast Rica, said that she’s excited to learn about how different countries are tackling climate change, as well as to network with like-minded people from around the planet. “For me, it will be an opportunity to see what I want to do in the future – to see if this is something that I want to get into,” she said.

Curry and Reiche Blanco both said that their goal is to attend as many events as possible. “We will all go to a different conversation for every session,” Curry said. “At the end of the day, we can regroup and share that information with each other so that way we can get the most information as possible.”

Cassidy Curry (left) and Florencia Reiche Blanco are Salve Regina’s student delegates attending COP26. 

Climate change conversations on campus

The delegates plan to bring information gleaned from COP26 back to Salve Regina, with the hopes of collaborating on future educational events in coordination with the Office of Mission Integration.

“I’ve been interested in a lot of environmental justice and urban development conversations,” Curry said. “Making sure that we can implement these changes on a day-to-day level for an average person, and it’s not just huge changes that only the rich can afford to make. I’m excited to bring information back and see if there are things that we can incorporate into our community.”

Chace also echoed these sentiments. “I hope we can leave Scotland with more people knowing who we are at Salve Regina and what value we bring to the conversation,” he said. “The knowledge we return to Salve will hopefully inform our community with greater knowledge about the issues, the process and the people involved. I hope we can hand off this opportunity to other faculty and students for COP27, COP28 and onward – allowing as many people as possible to be involved.”