COP31 Masterclass: From Participation to Policy Impact at the UNFCCC

• Date: Thursday, 15 October, 12pm - 2pm
• Location: Sustainability Hub, Ground Floor, Humanities Building, University of Warwick
• Speakers: Vicente Paolo Yu and Leon Sealey-Huggins

About the Event:

The 31st Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC COP31) takes place in Antalya, Türkiye from 9 – 22 November 2026. The meeting offers academics an important opportunity to engage with the multilateral climate process at a moment the world is confronting multiple geopolitical and economic challenges. Effective participation and engagement require more than attending the conference. It depends on understanding how the UNFCCC process works, where substantive and political decisions are made, and how research can be positioned to inform negotiations, public debate and wider law and policy agendas.

This session is open to colleagues who are planning to attend COP31 in-person or virtually or are interested in understanding how the UNFCCC process works for future engagement. It will explain the different roles of States Parties, observer organisations, constituencies, scientific and policy actors, and civil society, clarify routes to accreditation and participation, and identify the formal and informal spaces in which academics can contribute. Participants will also consider practical strategies for translating research into timely, relevant and politically legible interventions.

(Image from UNFCCC)

About the Speakers:

The session will be delivered by Vicente Paolo Yu, Honorary Professorial Fellow at the GLOBE Centre, Warwick Law School and Visiting Fellow with the Institute for Advanced Study (IAS), University of Warwick. He is a Senior Legal Advisor with the Third World Network, Senior Lecturer, University of the Philippines College of Law, Visiting Research Fellow at the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD), and Associate Fellow at the Geneva Centre for Security Policy. Mr Yu has decades of experience with trade and climate negotiations and has worked with governments, UN agencies NGOs on global governance, climate change, investment, South-South cooperation, and sustainable development issues.

Mr Yu will be joined by Leon Sealey-Huggins, Senior Campaigner,

Global Climate Justice and Just Transition, War on Want. Dr Sealey-Huggins is also a Visiting Fellow in Global Sustainable Development, University of Warwick, and Honorary Senior Fellow in the Sarah Parker Remond Centre, University College London. His research specialisms include: the social and political dimensions of environmental and climate breakdown; social and environmental justice; just transition; social theory; and education. Dr Sealey-Huggins has extensive experience with campaigning and advocacy at the UNFCCC.

The session is organised by the University of Warwick Multilateral Engagement Action Group (MEAG), Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) and the Centre for Law, Regulation & Governance of the Global Economy (GLOBE), Warwick Law School.

Lunch will be provided. Please indicate your dietary and access requirements in the registration form.