For the first time since the launch of the Climate Classrooms, UN CC:Learn brought its flagship ‘espresso shot’ of knowledge series to participants of the Bonn Climate Change Conference in Bonn, Germany (SB 50). The conference is one of the most important climate change events of the year, crucial for unlocking the negotiations in advance of the UN Climate Change Conference in Santiago, Chile, on December 2019 (COP 25). Over 6,000 decision-makers, government officials, practitioners, academics, and students from around the world attended the SB 50.
Amidst the negotiation sessions, informal consultations, huddles and side-events, delegates could step out of the official programme and into the inviting space of the Climate Classrooms. The open ‘pop-up’ setup, noise-canceling headsets and knowledgeable, engaging teacher offer a 45-min learning experience, so rare for such settings and audiences.
More than 200 delegates from the private sector, governments, NGO and academia joined the Climate Classrooms @SB 50, which was one the most comprehensive Climate Classroom editions to date. The schedule covered diverse topics around key negotiation areas, such as Mitigation and Carbon Markets, Climate Finance, Adaptation and Technology, delivered by skilled experts from the UNFCCC Secretariat, UN CC:Learn Secretariat, Climate Investment Funds, UN ESCAP, BloombergNEF, and the NDC Partnership.
‘I didn’t expect them [Climate Classrooms] to be here, but they have been very helpful, because even if you work on climate change, you can’t be an expert in every aspect. I quite like the headsets because they help you focus’ – Xu Qthyi, Climate Politics, PhD student at Cambridge University
‘Climate change is a new portfolio for me. The Classrooms were eye-opening and gave me a foundation of knowledge. I learned about climate finance and got insights on how to write a better proposal and got ideas for what projects we can look into for mitigation, adaptation, the whole works!’ – Muntaga Sallah, Permanent Secretary, Office of the President, The Gambia
The Climate Classroom is an initiative of the Swiss Development Cooperation (SDC) and the One UN Climate Change Learning Partnership (UN CC :Learn ), in collaboration with UN Partners. Participation is free and open to anyone participating in SB50 on a first-come, first-served basis. The next edition will take place at COP 25 in December 2019 in Chile. If you have ideas for future Climate Classroom topics or venues, please contact [email protected]. For more information on the initiative, visit our official page.