On Wednesday 4th November 2015, a Languages and Climate Conference was held at SOAS to coincide with the COP21 Conference in Paris in December. During the COP21 Conference the governments of more than 190 nations gathered in Paris to negotiate a possible new global agreement on climate change aimed at ensure our planet’s climate remains conducive to human life.
Climate negotiations are tough business. Negotiators have to agree on a slew of key details on how to address climate change. As negotiations progress issues tend to merge with core political questions and slow down.
Past agreements have carried little weight and failed to achieve significant reductions in the causes of climate change.
The conference at SOAS was an opportunity for young people to find out more about the COP21 Conference, to develop their negotiation and debating skills and to learn about the role of language skills in law, politics and international affairs.
The event was a great success with over 80 students in groups representing different countries. After over two hours of debating the students could not reach an agreement and it showed the tough job faced by the delegates of each country during COP21.
