News COP30: Reflecting on Three Decades of Climate Negotiations 18.11.2025

On Friday 14 November, Amaryllis, Milana, and My-Lan, three Lower Sixth members of the Sustainability Committee, led an assembly to mark the 30th anniversary of the UN Climate Conference, known as COP. The assembly, framed as a ‘birthday celebration’ for COP, explained the three decades of global climate negotiations from early breakthroughs like the Kyoto Protocol at COP3 in 1997, to historic moments such as the Paris Agreement at COP21 in 2015.

The students led us through both the successes and challenges of international climate cooperation, highlighting the ‘good years’, when major progress was made, and the ‘bad years’, when negotiations fell short, or failed entirely, such as COP15 in Copenhagen, 2009. They also shared stories of key figures such as Raúl Estrada-Oyuela, Christiana Figueres, Farhana Yamin and Vanessa Nakate.

The assembly encouraged students to consider the difficulties of reaching global agreement, the importance of climate justice, and the growing role of their own generation in shaping the next chapter of climate action. It served as a reminder that while international negotiations matter, impactful change also depends on communities, schools and individuals working together.

Events to reflect on COP30 continued throughout the following week, with numerous clubs and societies focusing on sustainability themes. This included the Debating Society’s motions of ‘This House believes countries should face penalties for breaking their COP climate promises’, and ‘This House believes that youth should have a formal voice in COP negotiations’, the Feminist Society’s discussion on climate justice in the fight for gender equality, and the Geography Society’s focus on how climate change has amplified extreme weather. Many thanks to all the club leaders who facilitated these discussions.