Villanova Leaders to Attend the 29th United Nations Climate Change Conference

VILLANOVA, Pa. (November 8, 2024) - Two members of the Villanova University community-Rev. John Abubakar, OSA, DBA, Chief Sustainability Officer, and Deborah Seligsohn, PhD, assistant professor of Political Science-will participate as non-governmental observers in the 29th session of the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP29) in Baku, Azerbaijan, this month. While in attendance, they will engage with global leaders, policymakers and experts to address urgent climate challenges.

COP29, which takes place November 11-22, 2024, entails a series of formal meetings where government officials will take steps to implement the 2015 Paris Agreement and the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change-the key international agreements to address global warming. The meeting consists of intergovernmental negotiations on critical parts of the agreements, a series of experts' meetings on all aspects of the climate crisis and an exhibition where non-governmental organizations (NGOs), companies and countries educate the public and each other on their efforts.

Fr. Abubakar will join the proceedings to observe governmental negotiations, attend open presentations and foster dialogue with participating academics, faith leaders and policymakers. Through these engagements, he aims to discern the best course of action for Villanova's ongoing involvement in the climate change movement and to establish a framework for future participation in UNFCCC-organized events, including COP sessions.

"COP conferences are the highest level of engagement in climate change discourses," said Fr. Abubakar. "We want Villanova University to have a voice on the global stage in keeping with our desire to be a leading institution in environmental stewardship, social sustainability and applied research."

Dr. Seligsohn will take part in this year's conference as a thought leader and speaker. At an official side event, she will present research completed in collaboration with a co-author at Tsinghua University in Beijing, China, on the forms of United States-China bilateral climate cooperation that are possible in the current policy landscape. In addition, Dr. Seligsohn will use the opportunity of the conference to conduct in-depth interviews with visiting experts.

"The COP is the key meeting for determining the direction of global climate governance each year," said Dr. Seligsohn. "As a scholar of the politics of climate change, this is a huge opportunity to see what has been achieved and where we are going as a global community."

Attendance at COP sessions is limited to official representatives of UN countries and observers from NGOs, including colleges and universities, and businesses. While this conference will be the first attended by Fr. Abubakar, it marks the seventh for Dr. Seligsohn, who organized Villanova's registration in 2020 and previously attended with other NGOs.

Fr. Abubakar and Dr. Seligsohn's participation in COP29 directly reflects Villanova's commitment to responsible stewardship of the environment. In keeping with its Augustinian Catholic mission-which emphasizes service to, and care for, one's community-the University integrates sustainability and respect for the planet into its curricula, scholarly research, academic and community events and institutional policy and practice. To learn more about Villanova's Sustainability Plan and other campus initiatives, please visit this link.

About Villanova University: Since 1842, Villanova University's Augustinian Catholic intellectual tradition has been the cornerstone of an academic community in which students learn to think critically, act compassionately and succeed while serving others. There are more than 10,000 undergraduate, graduate and law students in the University's six colleges-the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, the Villanova School of Business, the College of Engineering, the M. Louise Fitzpatrick College of Nursing, the College of Professional Studies and the Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law. Ranked among the nation's top universities, Villanova supports its students' intellectual growth and prepares them to become ethical leaders who create positive change everywhere life takes them. For more, visit www.villanova.edu .