A record number of Bath staff and students will participate in COP29, which takes place 11-22 November in Baku, Azerbaijan. Five colleagues will attend in person, and eight will participate as virtual observers.
Amy Thompson, Head of Policy Programmes and Communications at the Institute for Policy Research (IPR), acts as head of the Bath delegation. She will be in Baku to present the ActNowFilm Project, an international youth voices in climate change project run by the IPR and Cambridge Zero.
This year’s film, ActNowFilm: Youth Climate Leaders as Agents of Change, showcases the work of eight youth climate leaders as well as the insights of prominent climate change experts including Christiana Figueres (Executive Secretary of the UNFCCC 2010-2016) and Mary Robinson (founding member and former Chair of The Elders).
Youth climate leaders who feature in the film include Mariana Gomes, President and Founder of Último Recurso, Portugal's first climate litigation NGO; Dawda Cham, who was the Lead of the first Local Conference for Youth in Gambia and contributed to authoring the Global Youth Statement; and Marinel Ubaldo, who co-founded the Institute for Youth in Climate Diplomacy.
The young people share their personal experiences and direct actions in response to the climate crisis and call for greater, urgent action by climate negotiators and the official integration of young people in climate negation teams and international climate negotiations.
Amy Thompson said: ‘COP29 comes at a critical moment for global climate action. With unprecedented weather events—from devastating floods to severe droughts—impacting communities worldwide, we are at a tipping point. This global gathering must drive the changes needed to achieve a secure, resilient future. Now is the time for ambitious targets, strengthened commitments, and decisive, coordinated action to address the climate crisis, and young people have invaluable contributions to offer on all fronts. Only by implementing robust, measurable policies can we hope to stabilise our climate trajectory and build a sustainable world for all.’
ActNowFilm has been selected for six events at COP29. The film will premiere in the Capacity-Building Hub in the Blue Zone on 16 November, with additional panel discussions and youth climate skills events across the two weeks.
Among these events is ‘Decoding UNFCCC Language,’ a workshop on 11 November that will demonstrate how to turn language barriers into stepping stones and routes for meaningful youth participation within the UNFCCC processes. This event will be co-hosted by Lucy Plummer, a Professional Doctorate in Policy and Research and Practice student at Bath, with colleagues from Cambridge University.
Further events at COP29 featuring the ActNowFilm project will take place on:
- 12 November, 15:15-16:15, Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Pavilion
- 14 November, 10:00-11:30, Global Alliance of Universities on Climate (GAUC) Pavilion
- 18 November, Extreme Hangout, UK Pavilion
- 18 November, 12:30-13:15, British Council, Youth House
ActNowFilm: Youth Climate Leaders as Agents of Change will also be screened at the University of Bath on 21 November.