Fifteen University of Minnesota students and one professor are heading to Cancun, Mexico for the United Nations Climate Change Conference.
The conference is the 16th of its kind and begins Nov. 29. It will focus on international goals for reducing carbon and other climate change-causing greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, said Beth Mercer-Taylor, a sustainability education coordinator at the University.
She said the goals of the conference are to alleviate and prevent climate change by finding different ways to use fossil fuels and other ways to prevent harming the environment.
Nine University undergraduate students and six graduate students were selected after an application process. While students have attended the climate conferences in the past, this was the first time an application was necessary, due to an overwhelming interest in the seminar, Mercer-Taylor said. The application was open to the entire Twin Cities campus.
Mercer-Taylor said interest has increased greatly since previous conferences. The seminar is a great experience for students to learn about international environmental policy, she said, and students will be able to analyze the effectiveness of the conference.