Descending on Dubai for the world’s largest climate change conference, more than two dozen delegates from Penn shared their expertise on topics ranging from the energy transition to urban climate finance to health—and returned to Philadelphia with new knowledge and connections.

Dubai was the host city for COP28, the 28th United Nations Climate Change Conference, held Nov. 30 to Dec. 12 with more than 70,000 attendees. COP, or Conference of Parties, refers to the 198 states that have signed onto the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) since the treaty’s negotiation in 1992.

“For the first time, all countries have agreed to transition away from fossil fuels,” notes Perry World House (PWH) interim director Michael Weisberg, one of two people from Penn involved in negotiations, in addition to the 24 who traveled on a Penn badge with observer status. “This decision was joined by statements from all geopolitical actors calling for a new course to the future that does not include fossil fuels in energy, with most also expressing their solidarity with small island states and all vulnerable people.”

Read more at Penn Today.