[From left] Max Nelson, Vee Edwards, Juliana Lewis, Shiva Rajbhandari, Aravind Krishna.
The world’s premier climate policy event, the Conference of the Parties (COP), is organized annually by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). COP brings together delegates from almost 200 nations, along with thousands of advocates from civil society, business, and youth organizations, all working to drive climate action and mitigate the worst effects of climate change. This year, COP31 will take place November 9–20, 2026, at the Antalya Expo Center in Antalya, Türkiye.
UNC students Juliana Lewis, Hannah Midha, Max Nelson, Shiva Rajbhandari, Aravind Krishna, and Vee Edwards have been selected to attend COP31 to represent UNC, which holds “observer” status as a “Research and Independent NGO (RINGO)” to the UNFCCC. Since joining UNC in 2021, DDL Director Dr. Angel Hsu has led student delegations to COP as UNC’s designated point of contact. She will also attend the first week of the negotiations, focusing on the Global Climate Action Agenda, which is the part of the UNFCCC that engages the contributions of cities and local governments, private businesses and other non-state actors. Much of the Data-Driven EnviroLab’s (DDL)’s research evaluates the role and contribution of these “non-state actors” to global climate mitigation and governance. Dr. Hsu and DDL have remained key research partners supporting the UNFCCC and Global Climate Action Agenda, particularly through its role as the Secretariat of the Climate Analysis, Methodology and Data (CAMDA) consortium.
UNC has sent delegations to the last 8 COPs, including 2025’s COP30 in Belém, Brazil, where students engaged with national and global decision-makers, gained hands-on experience in policy processes, and undertook research projects on the science and policy of climate change.
Meet the students representing UNC:
Juliana Lewis is a senior majoring in Political Science and International Relations with a focus on sustainable development, and minoring in Geological Sciences. Before attending Carolina, she took part in coral restoration efforts in the Florida Keys, helping replant coral to restore natural reef barriers. That experience sparked her interest in how ocean warming and the degradation of natural coastal barriers can increase vulnerability to flooding and other climate-related risks. At COP31, she hopes to explore how international climate commitments translate into domestic and local action, particularly in coastal resilience and climate adaptation. Her research interests include comparing adaptation approaches across the Global North and Global South and examining how domestic political shifts, policy backsliding, and resistance to climate action shape local resilience strategies.
Max Nelson, from Chapel Hill, NC, is a student in UNC’s accelerated Master of Public Policy program and co-chair of Carolina’s Renewable Energy Special Projects Committee. He holds a B.S. in Environmental Science and a B.A. in Public Policy, with a concentration in ecology and natural resources. At COP31, Max will focus on developments in energy policy and climate governance, with an eye toward bringing lessons back home to North Carolina. He is also excited to track the evolution of international climate negotiations amid reduced U.S. engagement.
Shiva Rajbhandari hopes to understand how world leaders see the role of subnational governments in mitigation and adaptation as countries deliver their next round of NDCs, and to share DDL’s tools with the people doing that work: one-page city briefs from the Urban Environment and Social Inclusion Index (UESI) and the Lab’s tools for tracking subnational climate mitigation and adaptation plans. Along the way, Shiva will learn from these officials what would make the tools more useful in practice, share his research on how local governments can push climate action at higher levels of government, and bring the lessons home through a campus panel and stories with The Daily Tar Heel and Boise State Public Radio. Shiva is also excited to build relationships with policymakers and activists from the Global South, joining the daily coordination of the Least Developed Countries and following discussions of climate finance, loss and damage, and the inclusion of indigenous peoples in policymaking.
Aravind Krishna is a fourth-year undergraduate studying environmental health and quantitative energy. His research focuses on how communities can use distributed energy resources, especially small-scale plug-in solar, for more affordable and reliable energy. He has experience in funding sustainable energy projects as co-chair of UNC’s Renewable Energy Special Projects Committee. At COP31, Aravind will observe how different countries are approaching the transition to renewable energy given varied priorities and barriers. He is also interested in how financial agreements towards funding renewable energy solutions will be negotiated at COP31.
Vee Edwards is a senior at UNC studying Environmental Studies (Sustainability Track) with minors in Hydrology and Business Administration, and serves as a Buckley Public Service Scholar and Carolina Diplomacy Fellow. A youth delegate at COP30 in Belém, Vee was a North Carolina representative at LCOY USA, where she presented on how environmental management policy can align with national security and crime policy and helped draft the U.S. national youth statement for Congress and COP31. She also contributed to the YOUNGO Global Youth Statement. At COP31, Vee followed the negotiations on the Loss and Damage Fund, agriculture and food security, and the Ocean and Climate Change Dialogue, and spoke at a Peace Boat US event on November 9 about this summer’s Youth for the SDGs voyage. She will share what she learned through a spring panel with the other UNC delegates.
Hannah Midha is a senior majoring in Environmental Science (Quantitative Energy Systems) with a Risk Management minor, currently studying abroad at King’s College London. Building on her recent internship at Apple, her work explores how emerging technologies impact supply chains and energy demand. At COP31, Hannah will cover the balance between tech growth, grid capacity, and global climate policies, while leveraging her time at KCL to analyze geopolitical changes and innovative climate financing.
We’re eager to see how these students will bring their insights back to the Chapel Hill community. Stay tuned for more updates from Juliana, Hannah, Max, Shiva, Aravind, and Vee!
