For nearly three decades, the United Nations has brought together almost every country on earth for global climate summits called Conference of Parties (COP). The tradition continues with the 27th annual COP summit, which will be held Nov. 6-18 in the green city of Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt.

Salve Regina first sent an official delegation to COP in the fall of 2021 and will send four delegates to Egypt for COP27.

Dr. Sally Gomaa, professor in the Department of English, Communications and Media and Department of Cultural, Environmental and Global Studies, is one of this year’s delegates. “It’s very special to be selected as one of the professors from Salve and to utilize my relationship with Egypt to connect our goals as a University to COP27,” she said.

The other faculty delegate is Dr. Chad Raymond, professor in the Department of Cultural, Environmental and Global Studies and the Department of Political Science and International Relations. “I always encourage my students to put themselves in environments where they don’t represent the majority,” he said. “Given all the different people from all the different places who will be at COP27, it’s an ideal environment for some of us to see and hear global perspectives firsthand.”

Becoming student delegates to COP27

The two students attending COP27 are Liadan O’Connor, a double major in global studies as well as sociology and anthropology, and Cailin Martin, an environmental studies major. Both students were nominated by faculty in the Department of Cultural, Environmental and Global Studies.

“This is truly a once in a lifetime opportunity,” Martin said. “We’re going to witness over 200 countries collaborating on goals for a sustainable future.” Martin is interested in agriculture, particularly regenerative and sustainable forms of farming, so she is excited to see what indigenous communities have to say as world leaders are deciding policies for agriculture.

“There’s also a specific Gender Day that’s dedicated to talking about how women and other minority identities have been at the forefront of these sustainable efforts towards combating climate change,” Martin said. “It’s nice to hear from people who are doing a lot of the ground work.”

“I feel like it will be a productive and lively environment,” O’Connor said. “I’m really excited to see everyone’s thought processes, their unique perspectives and learn so much.”

Climate change conversations on campus

According to Salve Regina’s four delegates, the goal is to bring back information gleaned from COP27 with the hopes of collaborating with the Office of Mission Integration on future campus events. Climate change directly connects to the Critical Concerns of the Sisters of Mercy, so they hope that COP27 can spark further conversations.

“I plan on becoming an environmental sciences teacher after I graduate, and my main goal with COP27 is to share everything that I learned there with the campus community,” Martin said.

O’Connor is part of the Student Government Association and its environmental committee. “I will definitely bring my findings back to the SGA environmental committee, and honestly anyone who will hear it,” O’Connor said. “I just love to talk about this stuff, and I’d love to do some kind of presentation or panel after COP27.”

History of Salve Regina’s delegation to COP26, COP27

Salve Regina was first 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. This paved the way for Salve Regina to send its first official delegation of three University members to COP26 in fall 2021.

The COP27 delegation has been participating in Mercy Global Action’s climate justice task force to prepare an advocacy agenda. Mercy Global Action is part of Mercy International Association centered at the United Nations and seeks to advance the mission of mercy globally on two key areas: degradation of earth and displacement of persons.