Mock Climate Negotiations Give Middle School Students A Global Perspective

The project was spearheaded by the collaborative efforts of Middle School teachers David Sokoloff, Bud Kohler, Paulomi Aldo, Olivia Hamaoui, and Caroline Ford. It merged the subjects of climate science covered in Science 8, speech writing and diction covered in English 8, and global citizenship and international relations covered in History 8.

“The Global Affairs Climate Action Conference is an interdisciplinary, project-based experience that challenges students to engage with one of the most pressing issues of our time—climate change—through both scientific analysis and international diplomacy,” said Mr. Sokoloff. “This authentic learning experience empowers students to think critically, communicate effectively, and navigate the complex challenges of global citizenship.”

The preparation for the project began months prior as the students were assigned their country delegations with representation from Columbia, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Guyana, India, Indonesia, Japan, Kenya, Latvia, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Panama, Saudi Arabia, and South Korea. The role of student delegates was to work in teams to deliberate, discuss, and decide on a resolution the United Nations should adopt for the betterment of global development. Over the course of the project, the students designed and built interactive websites that showcased their assigned country’s economic profile, political priorities, technological capacity, and environmental challenges to aid in their understanding of their country’s position. Other project components included students completing their own individual worksheets and notes related to their assigned country in the respective class along with an off-campus trip to the Yale School of the Environment where the students engaged in panel discussions on the topics of climate science and global negotiation.

The project was divided into six sessions with the student delegates getting to know one another as they worked together to develop a resolution that would garner support and discuss the formation of alliances. The second session tasked the delegates from each country to meet with one another to find common interests and research on how other countries may vote. The third session was the alliance planning meeting where the goal was for student delegates to construct the resolution/policy for the global community to vote on in the debates. The final three sessions included the committee debates, arguments on the proposed resolutions, and the internal discussions among the country delegations to finalize all alliances before creating the final draft of the resolutions with the amendments and co-signers.

The Mock United Nations Press Conference took place in the Taylor Performing Arts Center where the delegates presented the three resolutions for final vote. All seventh-grade students were invited to the presentation, and Resolution 1 was presented by the delegate of South Korea with the proposal; Resolution 2 was presented by the delegate of Nigeria; and Resolution 3 was presented by the delegate of Kenya. After deliberations and voting, Grade 8 selected Resolution 1 to pass. Resolution 1 proposed that the world should achieve a 75 percent global average of EV sales using a global fund by 2040 to reduce carbon emissions.

“The level of student engagement was off the charts; congratulations to the team that put this together,” said Middle School Director Brian Christman “Thank you to Mrs. Aldo and Mr. Sokloff for their leadership as they have been the architects of the projects and to Mr. Kohler, Mrs. Hamaoui, and Miss. Ford for all of their contributions as they were instrumental in getting all of the students prepared.”