Alexander Vernoit

Alexander Erzini Vernoit, who hails from Tangier, Morocco, is currently a freshman at Yale in Saybrook College. He is proud to be a member of the Yale Student Environmental Coalition, or YSEC, an undergraduate organization with an extensive history of successful environmental initiatives, both at Yale and at large. Alexander is currently undecided as to his major, but he holds a deep interest in international policy regarding the climate crisis.

At the UN Doha Climate Change Conference, the eighteenth Conference of the Parties (COP18), Alexander will attend the negotiations as YCEI Fellow with several objectives and subjects of interest. In particular, Alexander intends to research the significant role played by the host of the negotiations, Qatar. Great hope has been expressed that Qatar, a member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), will set ambitious targets, using its status to exert greater influence on other nations exporting fossil fuels. In addition, Alexander intends to reach out to the Moroccan delegation to document and assess the positions and actions it takes on all the global issues of contention. Further general topics of consideration for Alexander include the future of pan-European emissions policy and international mechanisms for cooperation on funding and technology transfer.