Eco Ambassadors at Mock UN Climate Conference

We would like to congratulate the pupils who took part in the 2023 Mock UN Climate Conference (COP27) last week. They were fantastic ambassadors for the school and for the Liverpool College Eco Committee.

The Climate Conference was run as though pupils were taking part in global negotiations at COP27. Liverpool College sent 6 delegates in total. Students were divided into two teams, each representing a particular country. Zoe C-S (Ch10), Nick D (Ch9) and Ed R (Ch9) represented USA and Heidi B (Ch8), Ava B (Ch8) and James K (Ch7) spoke on behalf of Egypt.

The pupils spoke superbly well. They had prepared persuasive and informative opening statements, and they raised thoughtful questions. They displayed exemplary behaviour throughout, and were a credit to the school.

During the conference, pupils represented their country’s views and addressed the following key questions:

Is sufficient progress being made on all country emission targets?
Is your country willing to do more, even beyond your current targets?
How far can cooperation on Cities, Energy, Forests & food and Oceans help to raise global ambition?

Each team came to the conference prepared to share progress on one or more of the following four themes in order to develop joint proposals, and importantly to agree on how to fund them:

Cities: Many major cities are at the forefront of new approaches to infrastructure, cutting pollution, and smart energy use. Much more can be done to develop low-carbon, liveable cities.

Energy: Fossil fuels (coal, gas and oil) still make up over 80% of the world’s energy supply and demand increases each year. Use and storage of renewable energy must drastically speed up.

Forests and food: Deforestation is causing as much as 15% of global GHG emissions. More joint work is needed globally to reverse the process and invest in better agricultural practices.

Oceans: A global CALL TO ACTION has been issued in recognition of our oceans’ vital part in absorbing atmospheric gases, and the impact of plastics on the oceans and our food-chains.

We are incredibly proud of our ambassadors and grateful to Liverpool World Centre (LWC) and Faiths4Change for organising the event. We would also like to thank Merseyside Waste and Recycling Authority (MWRA) for hosting the event at their Authority Chamber on Albert Docks. Thanks also to Oxfam and the Natural Capital Hub Project for sending delegates to share valuable information, insights and inspiration from their respective organisations.

The event was fantastic, well organised and gave pupils a real sense of what it would be like to take part in a UN conference. The pupils have lots of ideas to take back to school, to drive forward our mission to create a more sustainable environment for all.

Miss Whittell, Mrs Watson & The Eco Committee