Brown U. students attend at Climate Change Conference in Paris

December 1, 2015 9:25 pm

By Liz Tufts

@ltufts@abc6.com

Tuesday marked day two of the Climate Change Conference in Paris where nearly 200 countries have come together to reach some sort of agreement to reduce global greenhouse has emissions.

This year could prove historic with world leaders expected to come up with an agreement.

A handful of students from Brown University are also there doing research of their own and hoping for a solution.

At the U.N. Conference on Climate Change, philanthropists, businesses, and government leaders are pledging 20 billion dollars to invest in clean energy. After years of faltering negotiations, this year’s conference is expected to finally produce a landmark agreement on ways to combat change.

"I think this has been important for years now," says Brown University student, Jon Gewirtzman.

ABC6 spoke to students, Gewirtzman and Sujay Natson from Paris via Skype. They’re two of a dozen Brown students in Paris doing research for their class called "Engaged Climate Policy at the U.N." They say there’s no better way to learn about climate policy than seeing it being made right in front of them.

"Emissions is number one–that’s the biggest thing–and how it’s going to be paid for," says Gewirtzman.

They say much needs to be done in hopes of leaving the world safer and cleaner for generations to come.

"They’re may not be a coming back point," says Natson.

The conference is two weeks and in addition to working on individual research projects, the students are also writing blogs and pieces for their student newspaper on a daily basis.