United Nations Climate Change Conference – COP 24
2-14 December 2018 | Katowice, Poland
The 24th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 24) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is being held in Katowice, Poland, from 2-14 December 2018.
This annual conference will bring together thousands of attendees from government, academia, business and advocacy groups to advance international agreements that aim to mitigate climate change and adapt to its effects. Katowice will continue to focus on the implementation of the Paris Agreement on climate change - agreed in 2015 at COP 21 - one of the most significant events in environmental negotiations this decade.
KEY INFO
DEPARTS AKL - 26 November
ARRIVES BACK IN AKL - 20 December
TRAINING WEEKEND - 17-18 November
APPLICATIONS DUE - 28 October
$1500 DEPOSIT DUE - 2 November
DELEGATION FEE - $5230
Head Delegate
SEDEF DUDER-ÖZYURT
We’re thrilled to have our COP23 alumna and AYLI team member Sedef Duder-Özyurt return to lead our delegation to COP24! Sedef is a Kiwi-Turk hybrid in her penultimate year at Victoria University studying Environmental Studies. Her university career has been centred largely around civics education as a founding member of Active Citizenship Aotearoa and the campaign manager for the Virgin Voter Collective 2017. Raised in a household where bathwater is repurposed to flush the toilet to lessen water wastage, a sense of personal responsibility in minimising our environmental impact was instilled in Sedef from a young age. This love of nature saw her take part in a Sir Peter Blake Trust expedition to the Sub-Antarctic and sail to Turkey with the Australian Navy. Attending COP23 was a transformative experience for Sedef, injecting her with a dose of reality and fuelling her desire to push for a more sustainable and equitable planet in every sense. Outside work and academia, Sedef finds refuge in the colour yellow, Claude Debussy, windsurfing, loud earrings and cushion-collecting.
Delegates
ADAM CURRIE
Adam studies Environmental Law and Politics, and is in his penultimate year of study at the University of Otago. He has been a Sir Peter Blake Ambassador, founded a grassroots environmental group in Nelson, sailed on the Rainbow Warrior, and is now a core driver behind Oil Free Otago, 350 Dunedin, and Otago S.E.A, currently leading agriculture and climate campaigns. He is New Zealand’s rep on the international youth campaign for CBD COP 2020, and is a core member of Generation Zero, among other things convening their ‘External Relations’ Workstream.
AMOS PONGA-FOU
Amos is the CEO and Director of Māori Warrior Media Ltd. With experience in governance and indigenous development, Amos has worked with organizations supporting youth development, sustainability, cultural conservation, science, and technology. By attending the UN conference he hopes to gain insight on how New Zealanders and Māori can plan for the next generation.
VICTORIA RHODES-CARLIN
Victoria is a compassionate and engaged leader in her third year studying Environmental Studies, Development, and International Relations in Wellington. She is passionate about environmental action and youth development, having facilitated the 2015 Tauranga Climate March and taking part in an expedition to the Kermadec Islands with the Sir Peter Blake Trust. Victoria is currently Coordinating the Aotearoa Youth Declaration conference and is a founding member of Active Citizenship Aotearoa.
VICTOR KOMAROVSKY
Victor is a dude who’s navigating two worlds. Raised in the outdoors of provincial Whakatu, and now a city slicker in Pōneke. Once a hoha, bored, and boring manager for a big corp, he’s turned a new leaf, and he’s now a full time climate activist as the Wellington Convener of Generation Zero. He calls himself a youth advocate, but is on the wrong side of his twenties. Recently, a new volunteer called him “Dad”, and he’s still coming to terms with that.
FAI TONGDETHSRI
Fai is a Thai-born New Zealander who is dedicated to her pursuits in life. Her passion for a knowledge-based and sustainable community have seen her PhD research focus on climate change adaptation policy in Thailand. Attending COP24 will be the perfect place for Fai to grow her career in climate change policy and to collaborate in delivering sustainable initiatives. While she is not immersed in this endeavour, Fai is on the Sir Edmund Hillary Scholarship at the University of Waikato as a golfer. She is a Waikato Senior Women’s Golf representative and is often competing and traveling across NZ. Outside of these ambitions, Fai enjoys meeting people through different activities. This has seen her volunteering as a Meals on Wheels Driver for the NZ Red Cross and fundraising for the Himalayan Trust. In 2017, Fai organised a golf tournament to raise funds for the Himalayan Trust’s Musey Drinking Water Project and trekked in the Solokhumbu region with her Step Higher Award team. When the opportunity arises, Fai enjoys road trips, hiking, listening to music and drawing.
FELIX HEWITSON
Felix is in his fifth year studying law and criminology at Victoria University of Wellington. He is passionate about sustainable development and the protection of our natural environment, evidenced in his writing for the university’s Climate Clinic. He is an active volunteer for the Wellington Community Justice Law Reform team. Whilst his most recent submissions have focused on New Zealand’s criminal law, he hopes that attending the conference will give him fresh insight into how New Zealand can be held legally accountable for their commitments to a zero-carbon future.
LIAM DALY
Liam is a recent graduate holding a Master of Conservation Biology and a BSc in Environmental Science and Ecology. He has always been interested in the intersection between climate change and biodiversity as global public goods, aiming to recognise the rights of species to exist in a warming world. He has seen the first-hand destruction that global warming is causing to the isolated reefs of Indonesia and wants to contribute to solving some of the greatest challenges of the Anthropocene. As an aspiring scientist/policymaker, Liam wants to expand his academic toolkit at COP24 while also elucidating how climate change affects communities, indigenous peoples, and the biosphere.
REBEKAH HILL
Rebekah is a third year student at Victoria University, studying law and a bachelor of science in environmental studies. Her dedication to representation at a policy level and work for climate refugees is reflected in her volunteering as an Awhina mentor and involvement in the Asylum Seekers Equality Project. With a particular passion for Pacific climate change impacts, her research has explored the disproportionate effects on women in this context. Her study, volunteering and experience in the competitive corporate law sphere have bolstered her incessant passion for environmental issues. Rebekah is excited at the potential to be a part of the essential movement of young people at such a seminal COP.
HELEN O’CONNOR
Helen is currently completing her fifth year of a double degree (Law and Arts) at Victoria University of Wellington, majoring in Environmental Studies and English Literature. She has a keen interest in environmental justice and women’s rights and this year was co-president of the VUW Feminist Law Society. Helen is stimulated by travel and learning about other cultures and wishes to attend COP24 to further her understanding of environmental issues at a global level.
GRACE TUALAULELEI
Grace is an environmental advocate. She is a second-generation New Zealand born Sāmoan from Wellington. With a family background of political activism and advocacy, she inherited a legacy of change. With the teachings and guidance of a grandfather with a keen enthusiasm for conservation and nature, early childhood was filled with lessons on the natural world and harm reduction; guidance that laid the foundation for a lifelong commitment to the fight for justice. These teachings, nurtured by Mātauranga Māori (indigenous knowledge) and strong Pacific traditions, underpin a desire to build movements that counter the drivers of climate change. She is an aspiring leader whose education reflected a culture of diversity and innovation that shaped a keen young mind. Early on in life, liberal educators reinforced global thinking and local acting. With a love of people and place, she advocates for environmental conservation, collective responsibility and global societal change through restorative justice and progressive ideologies. As a teenager, she was instilled with an understanding and appreciation for the values of hard work, team efforts, collective action, justice and the pursuit of knowledge from participating in youth innovation conferences. Early action and global insight was gained through membership to college groups such as Amnesty International. Grace has been a member of and volunteered for a wide range of causes, movements and organizations; such as community-led arts spaces, OxFam, and has interest in social justice fields such as decolonisation and prison abolition. She has worked in the fields of hospitality, insurance, the education sector and been a member of various sporting clubs and teams. She has undertaken some tertiary level studies in the fields of environmental, social and public policy. Her passions include conservation, art, activism, film, music, education, animals, science and food. She is a gifted speaker with natural leadership abilities and an affinity for the natural world. She hopes to use this opportunity to gain insight into the global discussion on climate change and sees the forum as being the highest platform at which to engage with decision makers and the best opportunity to advance indigenous world views and beliefs and shape them against an international backdrop of diversity and inclusivity.