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I share the frustration already expressed in Jen Grey Eagle’s blog and Melody Arteaga’s interview with Ethan Vue about this morning’s youth engagement session hosted by NOAA.

As an educator born and raised on a family farm in Iowa and as a first generation college student, I am acutely aware of how access to particular types of power requires access to particular types of language. By this, I mean that participating in communities with decision making abilities — e.g. roundtable discussions at COP29 — requires the ability to bullshit. Or, as Jen put it, the reliance on the “rhetorical woke”, which in turn “takes up so much space,” as Ethan said. This morning was a case in point.

The majority of “conversations” I have heard at COP have been dominated by what I’m beginning to think of as “politik-speak”: extended monologues loaded with policy jargon, references only group insiders would know, acronyms without explanation, repetition, prefaces, summaries, statement after statement, an absence of questions, an air self-importance, an obvious affluence, self-assurance, abstractions, an unwillingness to say I don’t know. These are not conversations as I understand the term. For me, “conversation” suggests a back-and-forth: a curiosity, desire to learn and hear from others, a want to understand the perspectives of those different from yourself. Or, more frankly: a willingness to share.

When I listen to “conversations” like the one I heard this morning, I think about the farmers I knew growing up back home.

They are rough-speaking people — folks that academics and politicians might call “crass” or “vulgar” or “uneducated” or “simple.” They do not speak in abstractions. They speak about the concrete reality of their lives: the weather, the markets, troubleshooting the broken innards of iron machines, corporate greed, their aches and pains and ailments. There is no ego in their talk. There is only the comradery of shared work and experience. In this sharing, I believe, is empathy. But if the folks from back home were to be sitting where I was in that windowless meeting room this morning, the cultural power of politik-speak would’ve forced them into silence without even acknowledging their presence, and that is a shame.

I once had a mentor tell me that — while an overgeneralization — working-class folks tend to only say as much as what needs to be said in order to convey the idea at hand. I believe the same is true for young people working for climate justice in communities. The young folks with whom I have had the privilege of working — and from whom I have had the great fortune to learn — communicate about the climate crisis in similar ways. They know the stakes of our time. They feel the urgency in their bones. They know there’s neither need nor time to self-promote or grandstand. “As young as we are,” Georgina Masega, a ten year old activist, said during her youth panel yesterday, “we still understand the Paris Agreement.” Young folks on the ground understand, yet they refuse to reproduce the platitudes and empty promises of politik-speak. Instead, they demand—directly, angrily, fully articulating the already ongoing impacts of the climate emergency on their homes and communities—”the right to be heard.” I relish this frankness. And yet, in Baku, so far, with few exceptions, this has come only from the margins.

Before I left for COP, I asked my students (undergraduates at the University of Minnesota) to tell me what questions they want me to think about while I am here. I wrote their responses down. My students would like climate leaders — the affluent old and young — to answer the following pointed questions:

  • What are political leaders actually doing to give young people a chance to work toward a greener world? 
  • What are governments actually doing at local and national levels? Why are individuals and communities left with so much of the burden?
  • What’s preventing larger action? How can we educate to engage? 
  • How are teachers working inside and outside of formal education to support climate action?
  • How can we advocate for education as a worthwhile profession worthy of collective respect?
  • How are educators involving families in and out of the classroom? 
  • What coalitions have been helpful in a local or global context? 
  • How are global educators talking about the crisis in today’s sociopolitical climate? How do educators spark curiosity and engagement, rather than fear? 

These are excellent, necessary questions. I will continue to ask them though I am not confident I will find answers. Still, as frustrated and deflated as I felt this morning, I am buoyed by two things.

First: I have the great fortune to share my COP29 experience with a group of incredibly kind, intelligent, funny, and motivated community organizers who understand the importance of working together, with communities, for a just transition. Their work involves advocating for concrete policies to advance racial equity, Indigenous sovereignty, the redistribution of wealth, accessible and stigma-free healthcare, language revitalization, culturally sustaining education, and more. I am grateful to them.

Second: even as my fellow delegates — my friends, now — are diligent in their labor, they are also acutely aware of the importance of renewing the heart. Despite this morning’s frustration and fatigue, by evening we found ourselves commiserating over dinner. In that stone restaurant nestled in Baku’s Old Town, surrounded by paintings of oil rigs and pomegranates, I was reminded of all that I admire about my community back home. Straight talk, ample laughter, and a want to take care of one another. Again, I am grateful to those young folks.

In the remaining days of COP, I am not confident I will get the answers to the questions my students pose. But I can and will respond to them with an intention: to ensure that they — the young folks committed to communities and justice — have the space to speak and lead. I second Ethan’s call to recognize the youth already engaged in climate justice and “give them the platform to not only help their communities but other communities.” I second Jen’s call “to remind ourselves that we are never the most important in the room and that collective and authentic voices being equally heard is not only vital but lifesaving.” I am grateful for these insights. These lessons, I believe, will be the method for keeping the real work going and hope alive.

Nick is a Climate Generation Window Into COP delegate for COP29. To learn more, we encourage you to meet the full delegation, support our delegates, and subscribe to the Window Into COP digest.

Nick Kleese

Nick Kleese is an Iowa farm kid turned literacy educator. Nick serves as the Associate Director of Community Engagement at the Center for Climate Literacy at the University of Minnesota, Managing Editor for Climate Literacy in Education, and Editor at Climate Lit. He is also Co-Founder of KidLitLab! He has taught middle school and high school English, undergraduate children’s literature courses, and outdoor immersion experiences for kindergarteners. His current research explores the role young people’s literature and media could play in advancing an interspecies democracy.

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Big fishing nations secure last-minute seat to write rules on deep sea conservation

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January 20, 2026

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As a treaty to protect the High Seas entered into force this month with backing from more than 80 countries, major fishing nations China, Japan and Brazil secured a last-minute seat at the table to negotiate the procedural rules, funding and other key issues ahead of the treaty’s first COP.

The Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) pact – known as the High Seas Treaty – was agreed in 2023. It is seen as key to achieving a global goal to protect at least 30% of the planet’s ecosystems by 2030, as it lays the legal foundation for creating international marine protected areas (MPAs) in the deep ocean. The high seas encompass two-thirds of the world’s ocean.

Last September, the treaty reached the key threshold of 60 national ratifications needed for it to enter into force – a number that has kept growing and currently stands at 83. In total, 145 countries have signed the pact, which indicates their intention to ratify it. The treaty formally took effect on January 17.

    “In a world of accelerating crises – climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution – the agreement fills a critical governance gap to secure a resilient and productive ocean for all,” UN Secretary-General António Guterres said in a statement.

    Julio Cordano, Chile’s director of environment, climate change and oceans, said the treaty is “one of the most important victories of our time”. He added that the Nazca and Salas y Gómez ridge – off the coast of South America in the Pacific – could be one of the first intact biodiversity hotspots to gain protection.

    Scientists have warned the ocean is losing its capacity to act as a carbon sink, as emissions and global temperatures rise. Currently, the ocean traps around 90% of the excess planetary heat building up from global warming. Marine protected areas could become a tool to restore “blue carbon sinks”, by boosting carbon absorption in the seafloor and protecting carbon-trapping organisms such as microalgae.

    Last-minute ratifications

    Countries that have ratified the BBNJ will now be bound by some of its rules, including a key provision requiring countries to carry out environmental impact assessments (EIA) for activities that could have an impact on the deep ocean’s biodiversity, such as fisheries.

    Activities that affect the ocean floor, such as deep-sea mining, will still fall under the jurisdiction of the International Seabed Authority (ISA).

    Nations are still negotiating the rules of the BBNJ’s other provisions, including creating new MPAs and sharing genetic resources from biodiversity in the deep ocean. They will meet in one last negotiating session in late March, ahead of the treaty’s first COP (conference of the parties) set to take place in late 2026 or early 2027.

    China and Japan – which are major fishing nations that operate in deep waters – ratified the BBNJ in December 2025, just as the treaty was about to enter into force. Other top fishing nations on the high seas like South Korea and Spain had already ratified the BBNJ last year.

    Power play: Can a defensive Europe stick with decarbonisation in Davos?

    Tom Pickerell, ocean programme director at the World Resources Institute (WRI), said that while the last-minute ratifications from China, Japan and Brazil were not required for the treaty’s entry into force, they were about high-seas players ensuring they have a “seat at the table”.

    “As major fishing nations and geopolitical powers, these countries recognise that upcoming BBNJ COP negotiations will shape rules affecting critical commercial sectors – from shipping and fisheries to biotechnology – and influence how governments engage with the treaty going forward,” Pickerell told Climate Home News.

    Some major Western countries – including the US, Canada, Germany and the UK – have yet to ratify the treaty and unless they do, they will be left out of drafting its procedural rules. A group of 18 environmental groups urged the UK government to ratify it quickly, saying it would be a “failure of leadership” to miss the BBNJ’s first COP.

    Finalising the rules

    Countries will meet from March 23 to April 2 for the treaty’s last “preparatory commission” (PrepCom) session in New York, which is set to draft a proposal for the treaty’s procedural rules, among them on funding processes and where the secretariat will be hosted – with current offers coming from China in the city of Xiamen, Chile’s Valparaiso and Brussels in Belgium.

    Janine Felson, a diplomat from Belize and co-chair of the “PrepCom”, told journalists in an online briefing “we’re now at a critical stage” because, with the treaty having entered into force, the preparatory commission is “pretty much a definitive moment for the agreement”.

    Felson said countries will meet to “tidy up those rules that are necessary for the conference of the parties to convene” and for states to begin implementation. The first COP will adopt the rules of engagement.

    She noted there are “some contentious issues” on whether the BBNJ should follow the structure of other international treaties such as the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), as well as differing opinions on how prescriptive its procedures should be.

    “While there is this tension on how far can we be held to precedent, there is also recognition that this BBNJ agreement has quite a bit to contribute in enhancing global ocean governance,” she added.

    The post Big fishing nations secure last-minute seat to write rules on deep sea conservation appeared first on Climate Home News.

    Big fishing nations secure last-minute seat to write rules on deep sea conservation

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    Climate at Davos: Energy security in the geopolitical driving seat 

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    January 20, 2026

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    The annual World Economic Forum got underway on Tuesday in the Swiss ski resort of Davos, providing a snowy stage for government and business leaders to opine on international affairs. With attention focused on the latest crisis – a potential US-European trade war over Greenland – climate change has slid down the agenda.

    Despite this, a number of panels are addressing issues like electric vehicles, energy security and climate science. Keep up with top takeaways from those discussions and other climate news from Davos in our bulletin, which we’ll update throughout the day.

    From oil to electrons – energy security enters a new era

    Energy crises spurred by geopolitical tensions are nothing new – remember the 1970s oil shock spurred by the embargo Arab producers slapped on countries that had supported Israel during the Yom Kippur War, leading to rocketing inflation and huge economic pain.

    But, a Davos panel on energy security heard, the situation has since changed. Oil now accounts for less than 30% of the world’s energy supply, down from more than 50% in 1973. This shift, combined with a supply glut, means oil is taking more of a back seat, according to International Energy Agency boss Fatih Birol.

    Instead, in an “age of electricity” driven by transport and technology, energy diplomacy is more focused on key elements of that supply chain, in the form of critical minerals, natural gas and the security buffer renewables can provide. That requires new thinking, Birol added.

    “Energy and geopolitics were always interwoven but I have never ever seen that the energy security risks are so multiplied,” he said. “Energy security, in my view, should be elevated to the level of national security today.”

    In this context, he noted how many countries are now seeking to generate their own energy as far as possible, including from nuclear and renewables, and when doing energy deals, they are considering not only costs but also whether they can rely on partners in the long-term.

      In the case of Europe – which saw energy prices jump after sanctions on Russian gas imports in the wake of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine – energy security rooted in homegrown supply is a top priority, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in Davos on Tuesday.

      Outlining the bloc’s “affordable energy action plan” in a keynote speech at the World Economic Forum, she emphasised that Europe is “massively investing in our energy security and independence” with interconnectors and grids based on domestically produced sources of power.

      The EU, she said, is trying to promote nuclear and renewables as much as possible “to bring down prices and cut dependencies; to put an end to price volatility, manipulation and supply shocks,” calling for a faster transition to clean energy.

      “Because homegrown, reliable, resilient and cheaper energy will drive our economic growth and deliver for Europeans and secure our independence,” she added.

      Comment – Power play: Can a defensive Europe stick with decarbonisation in Davos?

      AES boss calls for “more technical talk” on supply chains

      Earlier, the energy security panel tackled the risks related to supply chains for clean energy and electrification, which are being partly fuelled by rising demand from data centres and electric vehicles.

      The minerals and metals that are required for batteries, cables and other components are largely under the control of China, which has invested massively in extracting and processing those materials both at home and overseas. Efforts to boost energy security by breaking dependence on China will continue shaping diplomacy now and in the future, the experts noted.

      Copper – a key raw material for the energy transition – is set for a 70% increase in demand over the next 25 years, said Mike Henry, CEO of mining giant BHP, with remaining deposits now harder to exploit. Prices are on an upward trend, and this offers opportunities for Latin America, a region rich in the metal, he added.

      At ‘Davos of mining’, Saudi Arabia shapes new narrative on minerals

      Andrés Gluski, CEO of AES – which describes itself as “the largest US-based global power company”, generating and selling all kinds of energy to companies – said there is a lack of discussion about supply chains compared with ideological positioning on energy sources.

      Instead he called for “more technical talk” about boosting battery storage to smooth out electricity supply and using existing infrastructure “smarter”. While new nuclear technologies such as small modular reactors are promising, it will be at least a decade before they can be deployed effectively, he noted.

      In the meantime, with electricity demand rising rapidly, the politicisation of the debate around renewables as an energy source “makes no sense whatsoever”, he added.

      The post Climate at Davos: Energy security in the geopolitical driving seat  appeared first on Climate Home News.

      Climate at Davos: Energy security in the geopolitical driving seat 

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      A Record Wildfire Season Inspires Wyoming to Prepare for an Increasingly Fiery Future

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      1 day ago

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      January 20, 2026

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      As the Cowboy State faces larger and costlier blazes, scientists warn that the flames could make many of its iconic landscapes unrecognizable within decades.

      By Jake Bolster

      In six generations, Jake Christian’s family had never seen a fire like the one that blazed toward his ranch near Buffalo, Wyoming, late in the summer of 2024. Its flames towered a dozen feet in the air, consuming grassland at a terrifying speed and jumping a four-lane highway on its race northward.

      A Record Wildfire Season Inspires Wyoming to Prepare for an Increasingly Fiery Future

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