NUS at COP

NUS has been accredited by the UNFCCC as an observer organisation since 2014, and members of the NUS community have attended the annual COP summit since COP20 as official observers.

The 28th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP28) is taking place in Expo City, Dubai, from 30 November to 12 December 2023.

What is COP?

COP stands for Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The COP is the supreme decision-making body of the UNFCCC. It meets every year unless the Parties decide otherwise.

The COP meets in Bonn, the seat of the secretariat, unless a Party offers to host the session. The COP Presidency rotates among the five recognised UN regions - Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, Central and Eastern Europe and Western Europe and Others – and the COP meeting is held in the corresponding country that holds the Presidency for the given year.

The first COP meeting, known as COP1, was held in Berlin, Germany in March 1995.

What is the UNFCCC?

The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change is an international law treaty designed to address global climate change. It is often referred to as “The Convention” or simply, “UNFCCC”.

In June 1992, the world’s nations met for the “Earth Summit” in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. The “Earth Summit” had many significant achievements: the Rio Declaration and its 27 universal principles, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the Convention on Biological Diversity, and the Declaration on the principles of forest management . The “Earth Summit” also led to the creation of the Commission on Sustainable Development, the holding of first world conference on the sustainable development of small island developing States in 1994, and negotiations for the establishment of the agreement on straddling stocks and highly migratory fish stocks.

Today, the UNFCCC has near-universal membership, with 198 countries having ratified the Convention. Countries that have signed on and ratified are called “Parties to the Convention”, or “Parties” for short. The ultimate objective of the Convention is to prevent dangerous human interference with the earth’s climate system.

How NUS has been involved at COP in the past

NUS is one of 23 universities in Asia, and the only one in Singapore, which is accredited by UNFCCC to attend the annual COP summit. It is also represented on the steering committee of the Research and Independent Non-Governmental Organisations constituency of the UNFCCC, which conducts research and develops strategies to combat climate change.

Here are some highlights from NUS’ participation at recent COP summits.

COP28

To mark NUS’ tenth year of accreditation by the UNFCCC as an observer organisation for the annual COP summit, a larger-than-usual delegation of 10 students, along with staff and researchers, attended COP28 which took place in Dubai, United Arab Emirates from 20 November to 13 December 2023. Led by NUS President Professor Tan Eng Chye, the team observed negotiations and engaged Singapore leaders such as Ms Grace Fu, Minister for Sustainability and the Environment.

At the conference, NUS was at the forefront of the designated Singapore Pavilion. It organised and took part in more than 20 panel sessions to showcase its research to the world. Various NUS centres were represented including Centre for Nature-based Climate Solutions (CNCS) and the Centre for International Law (CIL). The NUS Decision Theatre, Centre for Sustainable Medicine (CoSM) and the R&D programme on climate change impacts on human health were also launched.

NUS also organised a cocktail and conservation networking event on 6 December with Singapore-based carbon exchange and marketplace, Climate Impact X. The event brought together some 150 guests from academia, private sector and civil society to foster connections for climate action, with a focus on Southeast Asia. In addition, it provided the global carbon services industry at COP28 the opportunity to explore potential collaboration with expertise from Singapore, which is crucial given Singapore’s ambition to become a carbon services hub and a frontrunner country in implementing Article 6 of the Paris Agreement.

COP28 also saw the attendance of a group of 10 students, who were selected out of 220 applicants.

They had the opportunity to join panel sessions, observe negotiations and interact with industry and government leaders as well as youth from other parts of the world. They supported the NUS and CNCS social media coverage and gained insights on the various negotiation topics.

The experience left Year 3 Environmental Studies student Tan Yock Han (second from left) energised and galvanised, while Year 5 Law and Liberal Arts student Leanne Chee (third from right) said she was inspired to write her final thesis on the relationship between oil, Singapore and its behaviour at COP. Year 2 Masters in Public Policy student Kajol Tandon (first from left) described attending COP as a memory of a lifetime and aimed to use the knowledge gained to make a meaningful impact through her career in climate and sustainability when she graduates.

Back home after COP28, the students rode on the momentum to organise and participate in events to share insights from COP, including serving as panellists and moderators in events such as Ridge View Residential College Climate Café, IES (Institute for Environment and Sustainability) Seminar by the Sustainable Finance Group at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, post-COP chats by Inter-University Environmental Coalition and What in the world is..COP? by Singapore Youth for Climate Action. They are also in the process of writing a guide for students who may go to future COPs.

NUS CNCS also continued to facilitate climate discussions locally by organising a post COP28 event on 30 January in collaboration with Global Compact Network Singapore (GCNS) and Asian Venture Philanthropy Network.

Titled “COP28 Insights: Elevating Singapore’s Business Transition and Transparency”, it featured Mr Joseph Teo, Singapore’s Chief Climate Change Negotiator, as the keynote speaker, and had a full house attendance by academia and the private sector who gathered to discuss key takeaways from COP28 and their implications to Singapore’s business community.

COP27

COP27, which took place at Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt from 6 to 18 November 2022, saw the active participation of a number of NUS entities as panel organisers, speakers and moderators, as well as dialogue presenters. They included Centre for Nature-based Climate Solutions (CNCS), Tropical Marine Science Institute (TMSI), Middle East Institute (MEI), Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy's Institute for Environment and Sustainability (LKYSPP IES) and Centre for International Law (CIL).

CNCS organised two panel discussions at the inaugural Singapore Pavilion, featuring its director Professor Koh Lian Pin as one of the speakers. Minister for Sustainability and the Environment Grace Fu was the Guest-of-Honour at the second panel discussion, where she gave an opening address.

CNCS Research Fellow Ms Melissa Low (second from left), who serves as NUS’ designated contact point to the UNFCCC, presented at several events including at the Singapore COP27 Pavilion, the Research and Independent Non-Governmental Organisation’s coordination meeting, Capacity Building Hub and on Promoting Nature-based Solutions through the Article 6.2 Cooperative Approaches in the Forest Sector panel at the Korean Pavilion.

MEI’s Research Fellow Dr Aisha Al-Sarihi spoke on a panel at the UAE Pavilion on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the Arab region while LKYSPP IES Director Professor Benjamin Cashore moderated a panel on Accelerating Energy Transition in the Indo-Pacific. CIL Director Dr Nilufer Oral and Adjunct Senior Research Fellow Ms Danielle Yeow also presented a virtual roundtable dialogue on Navigating the International Advisory Opinions on Climate Change.

The Carbon Integrity SG launch event saw the NUS Centre for Nature-Based Climate Solutions’ (CNCS) Science Communication and Outreach Lead Ms Audrey Tan (left), Director General for Climate Change at Singapore’s National Climate Change Secretariat Mr Benedict Chia (centre) and Director of NUS CNCS Prof Koh Lian Pin (right) discuss how the five-year research effort will support the establishment and monitoring of high-quality nature-based carbon projects across Southeast Asia.

At COP 27 on 10 November, CNCS launched a new S$15 million research programme to establish a network of forest carbon monitoring plots across Southeast Asia. The five-year research effort, called the Carbon Market Integrity Research and Development Programme Singapore, or Carbon Integrity SG, will provide a better estimate of the carbon stocks locked up across different habitat types across Southeast Asia, including rainforests, mangroves, freshwater swamp forests, peatlands and deciduous forests. At the launch, CNCS Science Communication and Outreach Lead Ms Audrey Tan (left), Director General for Climate Change at Singapore’s National Climate Change Secretariat Mr Benedict Chia (centre) and Director of NUS CNCS Prof Koh Lian Pin (right) discussed how the research effort will support the establishment and monitoring of high-quality nature-based carbon projects across Southeast Asia.

TMSI organised a panel discussion titled Carbon Prospecting in the Marine Realm on 14 November at the inaugural Ocean Pavilion which featured its director, Prof Koh, as one of the speakers and its Science Communication and Outreach Lead Ms Audrey Tan, as the moderator. It was the first time the annual UN climate conference had an Ocean Pavilion, reflecting the growing global consensus that protecting marine ecosystems can also be an effective means of tackling climate change.

COP26

COP25

In December 2019, at COP25 in Madrid, Spain, the NUS delegation to COP25, along with representatives from industry, and the Singapore National Youth Achievement Award, were invited to a closed-door discussion at the Singapore delegation office with Minister for the Environment and Water Resources, Mr Masagos Zukifli, as well as Singapore’s Chief Negotiator to the UNFCCC, Mr Joseph Teo.

Some NUS delegates to COP25 in Madrid, Spain posing with the COP signage. From left: Don Sandev Ferdinando, Jamie Lee Ying Feng, Ashleen Tan, Cheryl Lee, Melissa Low and Eric Bea.

NUS hosted an exhibition booth at the COP25 climate conference in Madrid, Spain. The exhibition booth was led by the Energy Studies Institute (ESI) together with the Asia-Pacific Centre for Environmental Law (APCEL) and the Centre for International Law (CIL). The showcase featured ESI Policy Briefs, and APCEL and CIL reports on climate change, energy and environmental research and the international negotiations on climate change.

Ms Melissa Low, Research Fellow at ESI, and Mr Eric Bea, Research Assistant at APCEL, participated in a panel at the Paris Committee on Capacity Building (PCCB) 2^nd Capacity Building Hub on “Innovative Partnerships for Bridging Capacity Building Gaps: Lessons from Communities, Youth and Education Organizations”, held at the COP25 climate conference in Madrid, Spain.

COP24

NUS students Sarah Lu and Eric Bea attending the COP24 in Katowice, Poland in 2018.

Yale-NUS and NUS Law students met with Singapore’s Chief Negotiator for Climate Change while at COP24 in Katowice, Poland. From left: Heng Jia Min, Sangam Paudel, Mr Joseph Teo, Carol Yuen and Lucy Xinyu Zhu. Yale-NUS students who attended COP24 shared their experiences online via a Yale-NUS webpage titled Yale-NUS Learning Across Boundaries: COP24.

Ms Melissa Low, Research Fellow and Designated Contact Point for NUS, serves as a Steering Committee Member of the Research and Independent Non-Governmental Organization (RINGO) Constituency. This photo was taken with the entire Steering Committee at COP24 in Katowice, Poland in 2018.

Enquiries about participation at COP summits as a representative of NUS should be directed to the University’s Designated Contact Point, Ms Melissa Low at melissa.low@nus.edu.sg.