ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:
Every year, the international climate summit known as COP brings thousands of people to the host city - from world leaders to environmental activists, students and spectators. Today, the climate change conference kicked off in Baku, Azerbaijan. In another part of the program, we are hearing about the speeches and policy agenda. Right now, let's get a sense of what it feels like to be at the summit from Laura Young. Her followers on social media know her as Less Waste Laura. She is a Ph.D. climate researcher and climate activist from Glasgow, Scotland, and she's attending the summit in Baku. Welcome.
LAURA YOUNG: Hello. Thanks for having me.
SHAPIRO: It's a pleasure to have you. When I've been to COP summits in the past, there's often something like a festival vibe, with huge installations of sculpture and video, and people gathering for protests and speeches. What's the atmosphere like there in Baku today?
YOUNG: Yeah. I mean, the first day, you basically spend your whole day running about, trying to find out where's the toilets...
SHAPIRO: (Laughter).
YOUNG: ...How do you get on the Wi-Fi and trying to find all the different rooms. But of course, you are surrounded by different side events, pavilions. So there's the Arctic pavilion, there's the Canadian and the U.S. pavilion, but you also have pavilions for soil and water and all sorts of different things. And obviously, it's an exciting day. There's two weeks of negotiations ahead of us, so you are there with anticipation, wanting to know what is happening.
SHAPIRO: Yeah.
YOUNG: But of course, we also know that we are coming into this one with a couple of negatives. We know that there's lots of world leaders who haven't made the effort to come. And we know that America has recently had a big election, which is going to undoubtedly impact climate policy at this global level. So we're coming in a little bit on the back foot with these things. But of course, there's still that excitement around what the possibilities will be for this conference.
SHAPIRO: Is there one conversation that you find yourself having over and over with every new person you meet?
YOUNG: Oh, I mean, Trump - that's definitely something that keeps coming up time and time again. Everybody is wondering, you know, what is going to be happening with the U.S. election. How is that going to impact global policy? And I think that's probably the biggest thing that's on the agenda at the moment.
SHAPIRO: So many world leaders are not attending this COP summit - the U.S., Canada, India, Russia, Brazil. They've sent representatives, but how are people reacting to the fact that the big bosses are off doing other things?
YOUNG: It's frustrating because people have made long journeys to get here. And actually, the history of COP, we didn't used to have the world leaders' summit at the beginning. We didn't used to bring the heads of state. But what we realized, particularly after Paris when we got the big Paris Agreement, that actually having the world leaders at the conference made such a big difference for the ambition, for the influence, for the energy. And by putting that right at the beginning, it helps set a tone - almost a bit of a competitive edge, right? Countries want to look like they are leading in this space. And so by these countries pulling back or not making it a priority, that sends a big message, particularly when these are some of the biggest-emitting countries in terms of carbon, but also these are some of the big funders, the ones who could potentially make a big difference.
SHAPIRO: Yeah. Having been to a few COPs, do you feel more or less hopeful now than you have in previous years?
YOUNG: Oh, I mean, catch me on a good day, and I might squeak in I feel hopeful. But it is really, really difficult because ultimately, we know that we are still not making the difference that we can. But also, if we didn't have these COP processes, we would be a lot worse off. This is the only conference where everybody around the world gets a seat at the table and has a conversation and makes commitments. So we absolutely need to have it, but there's, of course, space that we need reform. And also, this is the second oil state to now host this conference. Last year it was in Dubai. This year, it's Baku. You definitely feel the influence that fossil fuels have had on the conference.
SHAPIRO: Could you leave us with one memorable image or scene from your first day there in Baku - something that'll stick with you?
YOUNG: Well, I did see a Santa Claus going around and talking about how (laughter) the North Pole is going to be impacted by climate change, which actually felt a bit quirky. I kind of liked it.
SHAPIRO: (Laughter) The elves' workshop is melting, that kind of thing?
YOUNG: Uh-huh. And actually, I thought if this doesn't get you on board...
SHAPIRO: (Laughter).
YOUNG: ...I don't know what will. But to be honest, there's really powerful stuff, and I think that's what I like about this, is there's artists that are here. There's people who have got photography exhibitions. There's people who are doing stuff that's really creative because we know that what comes out of COP is text-heavy, hard-hitting, quite boring legal jargon. But actually, when you come here, you also get people who are doing it creatively. So whether that is the arts, the theater, or whether that's Santa talking about the North Pole, but it sticks with you.
SHAPIRO: That's climate researcher Laura Young, aka Less Waste Laura, speaking with us from the COP summit in Baku, Azerbaijan. Thank you so much.
YOUNG: Thank you very much. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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