WashU Delegation

In 2011, Washington University was granted admission to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change as a representative non-governmental observer organization. This opportunity was sought after by an undergraduate student group, Washington University Students for International Collaboration on the Environment (WUSICE). Since 2011, Washington University has sent official observer delegates to attend Conference of the Parties (COP), Ad Hoc Working Group on the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action meetings, and other intersessional meetings. Each spring, approximately six undergraduate and graduate students are chosen through an application process to attend the Conference on the Parties the following fall. Applications are available on the WUSICE website. To prepare for the conference, students enroll in EnSt 452, International Climate Negotiation Seminar, and closely prepare to follow a topic at the negotiations. Two faculty members, Beth Martin and Scott Krummenacher, attend the negotiations with the student delegates each year.

Washington University and its associated delegates are members of the Research Institution Non-Governmental Organizations (RINGO) constituency. The delegation has a number of contacts with other RINGOs.

Students apply to attend the negotiations with the Wash U Delegation during the spring before the negotiations. Students must be prepared to enroll in the Climate Change Negotiations course during the fall semester and miss a week of classes to travel to the negotiations. To learn more about the application process, email Beth Martin at martin@wustl.edu.