ST Dominic’s Grammar School students have visited Stormont to debate on the biggest issue facing the planet – the climate crisis.
The sixth form pupils took part in British Council’s COP26 Climate Simulation Negotiation event, which saw them join students from across the North to play the part of world leaders, lobbying groups or media, in a bid to discover what it’s like to negotiate a real climate deal.
The event, which used computer software by Climate Interactive and MIT to create a real-life climate simulation, was taking place to coincide with the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow.
During the negotiations St Dominic’s represented the UK and the fossil fuel lobby, and working together with the other schools, they had to collectively agree on how much they were going to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by, how they would help struggling nations, and agree on ways to adapt to climate change to protect their cities and people.
The negotiations were led by Dr Peter Doran, Senior Lecturer in Law, from Queen’s University Belfast, with pupils also zooming in to the event live from Egypt – with the British Columbia Canadian International School in El Sharouk taking on the role of the UK as part of the proceedings.
The event ended with the schools agreeing to reduce global temperature rises to 2.3 degrees Celsius and securing enough funding through the Green Climate Fund to support future climate actions in both the developed and developing nations.
