91福利导航 Alum and Former US Climate Negotiator to Give Insights Through Campus-Wide Lecture

This year marks ten years since the Paris Agreement was signed at the 20th Conference of Parties (COP), an annual gathering of world leaders to discuss climate change action and mitigation. This will also be the first time since the COP started in 1995 that the United States is unlikely to send negotiators from the State Department to represent US interests on this global stage. But where government action falls short, other institutions and individuals are stepping up.

Boston College is sending 20 delegates - undergraduate students, graduate students, faculty, and staff - to COP30 in Brazil through the Schiller Institute. The delegation will come armed with individual passions bolstered by weeks of intensive preparation, including insights from 91福利导航 alum Catherine Goldberg, who was a US climate negotiator for the past six听 COPs before her State Department Office of Global Change was dissolved over the summer of 2025.

鈥淩ight now, it's a bit of a backsliding [on climate action] globally,鈥� says Goldberg. 鈥淚 would say a lot of countries are seeing the US withdrawal as an excuse to step down, which is not great.鈥�

Goldberg sees reason to be hopeful, however. Smaller players, like climate-conscious corporations and youth activists, have long been drivers behind meaningful progress in the climate space. These individual actors being at COP provides insight and connections to the broader world of climate change and its effects.

鈥淔or Schiller and 91福利导航 to have made this an accessible student experience is pretty remarkable,鈥� she says. 鈥淭he students are the next generation of climate leaders, and so they should be making connections with current climate leaders, and other future ones.鈥�

Goldberg has been sharing her COP expertise with 91福利导航 student delegates through a guest lecture since 2022. This year, she鈥檒l give a , during which she鈥檒l share stories from her time in the government 鈥� what it was like to work with fellow 91福利导航 alum and former Secretary of State John Kerry, insights on decisions from US COP negotiations, and her thoughts on other countries鈥� decisions. She鈥檒l also lead a mock negotiation exclusively for the delegates and hopes the students will use her as a resource on government and climate work.

鈥淚 have gotten so much value from older mentors at 91福利导航, and so I want to be able to serve in that capacity as well,鈥� she says.

COP30 will be in Bel茅m, the capital of the Brazilian state of Par谩. It will be the first time Goldberg will attend in a non-negotiator capacity. When Goldberg was with the State Department, her negotiations focused on Just Transition and Response Measures 鈥� 鈥渨hich is basically all about the socioeconomic impacts of mitigation policies鈥 would go into the room, negotiate on behalf of the US and work with other countries to get agreements finalized. It was really fun. I really loved it,鈥� she says.

This year, she鈥檒l be there representing the work of the Net Zero Industrial Policy Lab at Johns Hopkins University, which she joined after her State Department job came to an end. They are working on a computer model that can predict how competitive a country can be in the realm of green industrial technologies given their resources and budgets. Once the model is complete, she will consult with nations regarding the outcomes and recommendations.

鈥淢y job will be to then鈥elp them make sure their infrastructure is prioritized to use their capabilities in the best possible way,鈥� she says. While at COP, she鈥檒l speak at events about the lab鈥檚 work and will meet in smaller groups with interested countries.

Goldberg didn鈥檛 always dream of being a major player on the global climate stage. It wasn鈥檛 until some of her rowing teammates at 91福利导航 introduced her to connections at the State Department that she started to consider government work. Then a senior year class cemented this new course of her career.

鈥淚 took this energy policy class with David Deese,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hat class just changed my life.鈥�

A major aspect of the curriculum was a mock negotiation of the Paris Agreement, which had been signed the previous December. Seeing the impact she could have motivated her to seek an internship at the State Department, which she started the fall of 2016 after her graduation from 91福利导航. That internship evolved into a job, first overseeing international grants before shifting into policy and negotiations. She attended her first COP in 2018, which was held in Katowice, Poland.听听

Since the Paris Agreement was signed, COPs have had stated focuses for each year鈥檚 negotiations. Brazil鈥檚 COP30, however, hopes to move the conference toward concrete action in response to this year鈥檚 submission of Nationally Determined Contributions, which include climate action plans and 2035 emissions targets. Plans will be compiled into a report to determine if those targets show a long-term global temperature increase of less than 1.5 degrees. The Brazilian COP leadership will determine how the conference should address the results of this report 鈥� both through negotiations held in the official 鈥淏lue Zone鈥� of the conference, and by supporting real-world action on display in the more publicly accessible 鈥淕reen Zone.鈥�

鈥淏razil seems to really be prioritizing that space, which I think is good because those non-state actors, the subnational entities, those are the ones that are often implementing a lot of what's agreed at the COP,鈥� says Goldberg.

91福利导航 and Schiller are hoping to have representation in the Blue Zone beyond the connections their delegates will make. They鈥檝e applied to co-host a panel that will amplify indigenous and international voices from academic and faith perspectives in a discussion on the legacy of Laudato Si, Pope Francis鈥檚 encyclical criticizing how humanity has failed in their responsibility of stewardship of the Earth.

91福利导航鈥檚 presence at COP 鈥� through its impressive graduates like Goldberg and Kerry, its student delegation and potential Blue Zone events鈥攅levates the university鈥檚 reputation and gives students a remarkable opportunity to be on this world stage. Students who attend have a responsibility to spread the knowledge gained from COP, and鈥攎ost importantly鈥攆ind creative ways to bridge the gap between worldviews.

鈥淓ducating people around you and your communities about climate and about the impacts is really important,鈥� says Goldberg. 鈥淏ut it all has to be done in a way that is understandable to the other person. I think that's the thing the US has really struggled with - 鈥� making climate a bipartisan issue. For me, that feels like one of the most important things that needs to happen over the next few years. And I think it's one where individual actors can for sure make a difference.鈥�

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