Recently, Northwest University (NWU) has been approved as an observer to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). It is the only university in the Chinese mainland to obtain this status in the past two years, marking a new institutionalized and regularized stage for the university’s participation in global climate governance. This is of great significance for enhancing the university’s international influence and strengthening its voice in the field of climate governance.
As the core mechanism of global climate governance, UNFCCC admits organizations from two categories—global governmental bodies and various institutional groups—as observers to participate in international climate negotiations and share experiences of national climate actions. So far, only over 3,000 institutions worldwide have been accredited as non-governmental organization observers, with units from the Chinese mainland accounting for less than 2%. Among the approved Chinese universities are Tsinghua University, Renmin University of China (RUC), Xiamen University (XMU), Central University of Finance and Economics, and Beijing Institute of Technology (BIT). The successful approval of Northwest University provides a new pivot for Chinese universities to deeply engage in the multilateral process of climate change. (Carbon Neutrality College)
