The Ford School's Matthew Bishop (MPP ’16) and Benjamin Morse (MPP/MS ‘17) are among 10 University of Michigan students and faculty members serving as official observers of the United Nations’ 2015 Climate Change Conference in Paris.
The conference, which runs from November 30-December 11, is expected to attract close to 50,000 participants and observers as world leaders work together to create a legally binding agreement designed to cut greenhouse gas emissions and mitigate global warming.
“Climate change is the perfect storm (no pun intended) of public policy issues,” says Bishop. “It involves finance, economics, global development, planning, public health, social justice, and international relations—none of which have easy answers.”
Morse, a returned Peace Corps volunteer who served in Ethiopia, says he’s particularly interested in the conversations surrounding Least Developed Countries. “I am hoping that countries in the Global South can effectively negotiate for increased climate finance, increased technology transfer, and support for climate adaptation plans,” he says.
All official observers are encouraged to document the conference proceedings to ensure transparency. To this end, Bishop and Morse, who are observing the proceedings from December 7-11, will be posting updates regularly. To follow them, monitor Climate Blue’s Facebook, Twitter, and Wordpress accounts and visit the U-M Climate Blue website.