Fall 2026 Applications
Graduate and upper-level undergraduate students from all Duke degree programs were invited to apply for the fall 2026 U.N. Climate Negotiations Practicum. COP31 will take place in Antalya, Türkiye. Applications closed June 26.
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When world leaders converged on Belém, Brazil, last November for the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30), Duke University students were on the ground too—immersed in the global climate summit.
The 14 students in Duke’s unique U.N. Climate Change Negotiations Practicum had spent the fall learning about international climate diplomacy with instructor Jackson Ewing, director of energy and climate policy at the Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment & Sustainability. Students analyzed policy documents, attended lectures, interviewed guest experts on campus and at Duke in DC, and took part in negotiation simulations.
The course prepared the interdisciplinary cohort of Duke students—ranging from undergraduates to doctoral candidates—to actively engage at COP30. In addition to witnessing negotiations, attending events and exploring pavilions, students supported the COP30 activities of “clients,” including delegations from small countries, U.N. agencies and other non-governmental organizations, and private-sector firms.
During and after COP30, Ewing and the students shared reflections on LinkedIn at #DukeCOP30—capturing insights on key climate policy topics, the COP process, people they encountered, and their own investment in climate action.
Moments from COP30
COP30 attracted 42,000 participants from across the globe, including diplomats, government officials, business leaders, policy experts, activists, and more.
“When people think of the U.N., they often picture rows of country nameplates, microphones, and delegates delivering formal statements under bright plenary lights. But what COP30 truly impressed upon me is just how much these processes hinge on presence, persistence, and the personal connections built between individual delegates."
LinkedIn article by Jacqueline Wittich, a master of environmental management and master of business administration student at the Nicholas School of the Environment and the Fuqua School of Business who graduated in May 2026
From negotiations, delegations, and country pavilions in the restricted “Blue Zone” to side sessions in the public-facing “Green Zone,” COP30 included thousands of events, including this TED Talk on storytelling.
“Across negotiations, panels, and hallway conversations, it became clear that some of the biggest levers in climate action aren’t technical, they’re narrative. … Climate action depends on people believing in a brighter future, the possibility of change, the importance of action, and the legitimacy of those driving it."
LinkedIn post by Camber Vincent, a master of environmental management student at the Nicholas School of the Environment who graduated in May 2026
Chloe Young’s COP30 client was the insurance company Marsh McLennan.
“The [COP30] conversation largely centered around adaptation and climate finance, a sobering reminder that we have surpassed a tipping point and need to figure out how to maintain our livelihoods in a new reality. This is what climate adaptation is all about; identifying structures and systems that, if changed, could make communities more resilient to disasters and climate extremes."
LinkedIn article by Chloe Young, an undergraduate majoring in environmental sciences and policy who graduated in May 2026
Griffin Storm (left) grabbed a selfie with fellow practicum student Camber Vincent and practicum instructor Jackson Ewing (right).
“I was privileged to work with the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) and Marc Gordon to help launch the Extreme Heat Risk Governance Framework and Toolkit [featuring Nicholas Institute experts among coauthors]. I learned that, tragically, extreme heat kills over 500,000 people per year; Marc and his colleagues are doing fantastic work to lower this number and improve livelihoods by guiding leaders in heat planning and risk reduction across sectors."
LinkedIn post by Griffin Storm, an undergraduate majoring in public policy and environmental science who graduated in May 2026
Duke students pictured from left: Anna-Paden Carson, Jacqueline Wittich, Melissa Monge, Uriel Nascimento Santos Pinho, Gabriela Nagle Alverio, Lige Nie, Eilish Zembilci.
“I found myself especially drawn to delegates from small island nations and Indigenous territories, groups I rarely have the chance to interact with in my everyday life. Their stories were not policy examples or case studies. They were lived realities, shared face to face."
LinkedIn article by Lige Nie, a second-year master of business administration and master of forestry student at the Fuqua School of Business and the Nicholas School of the Environment
During the trip, some Duke students visited a cocoa plantation on the outskirts of the Amazon Rainforest and a zoo and sanctuary in Belém dedicated to biodiversity.
“This proximity to the Amazon changed everything for me as an observer. I had the chance to visit the outskirts of the rainforest, and it was one of the most surreal experiences of my life … seeing firsthand how the forest's bounty is woven into the lives and livelihoods of its people … This is what we are here to protect. Not just a concept but this living, breathing, irreplaceable world."
LinkedIn article by Aashish Yadav, a first-year master of environmental management student at the Nicholas School of the Environment
Thousands of protesters shared their perspectives at COP30, with many demonstrations taking part in the Green Zone as well as in the streets of Belém.
“Decisions about [energy] transitions inevitably shape decisions about movement: who is able to stay, who feels pressure to leave, and how communities navigate the economic and political consequences of both. Those connections, and at times their glaring absence, were impossible to ignore across the conversations I followed at COP30."
LinkedIn article by Eilish Zembilci, a Ph.D. student in public policy and political science at the Sanford School of Public Policy and Trinity College of Arts and Sciences
Aashish Yadav experienced a “surreal moment” during a tense finance discussion among the G77+China bloc of countries, chaired at COP30 by the Iraqi delegation.
“In my UNFCCC class at Duke, I spent a few weeks in a simulation representing the G77+China, drafting our positions, and learning the theory of its consensus-building. Yesterday, I was living it. I had a brief, incredible chat with one of the [Iraqi] delegates … about how the G77 (134+ countries!) actually comes to a consensus, its powerful role at COP, and its key agendas. To see the theory from my class play out in real-time, right next to the chairing delegation, was one of the richest experiences of my life."
LinkedIn post by Aashish Yadav, a first-year master of environmental management student at the Nicholas School of the Environment
Belém native Uriel Nascimento Santos Pinho debated the finer points of climate finance with his Duke classmates on the same streets where, as a child, he’d walked to the market with his grandmother.
“After being at COP30, I feel one of the challenges of global climate governance is how to come up with solutions and structures that are understandable across different nations and stakeholders. How do you translate the lived reality of communities dependent on the forest into the technical language of Nationally Determined Contributions? How do you make the spiritual value of a river legible in the framework of climate finance?"
LinkedIn post by Uriel Nascimento Santos Pinho, Ph.D. student in romance studies
Brazilian officials billed COP30 as “the implementation COP.” After the summit, practicum instructor Jackson Ewing reflected on this framing.
“If this year’s conference had an unofficial tagline, it was some variation of ‘less talking, more doing.’ … But the inconvenient truth is that COPs should be talk-heavy. They are political arenas for high-level negotiation, not platforms for real-world implementation. … The problem is not the volume of talking but its strategic quality. COPs need more impactful talking—more targeted, more political, and more oriented to making tradeoffs that matter."
LinkedIn article by Jackson Ewing, director of energy and climate policy at the Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment and Sustainability
Doctoral student Anna-Paden Carson studies how people in colonial Latin America understood nature and disaster, and how those ideas shaped identity. She joined the practicum to explore the relationship of these past patterns and today’s climate policy negotiations.
“If the past three days at COP30 have taught me anything, it’s that effective climate governance requires us all, and that the humanities matter. Understanding the colonial past is essential for recognizing the power dynamics structuring the climate present. And if we want equitable outcomes in 2025 and beyond, we need people in these rooms who can see those patterns clearly and help imagine something different."
LinkedIn post by Anna-Paden Carson, Ph.D. candidate in romance studies
