Climate Action, Autism, and Navigating COP

Attending COP27 as an autistic professional was a profound and meaningful experience – one that I feel incredibly grateful for. Being at the heart of global climate discussions, surrounded by passionate advocates, policymakers, and experts, was both inspiring and energising. Looking back, I’m proud of how I navigated such a dynamic and fast-paced environment in a way that worked for me.

It was a reminder that neurodivergent professionals have a valuable role to play in these spaces, bringing unique perspectives and approaches to complex global challenges. This Neurodiversity Celebration Week, I revisit my experience of being on-ground at COP27, and share my personal and professional tips for approaching the conference.

1. Prepare, prepare, prepare

Let’s start with something that underpinned all my key learnings: preparedness.

As an agency, we know how crucial it is to plan ahead for major moments in the climate calendar. Establishing ways of working early on helps our internal and client teams stay aligned on exactly what needs to happen and when. This allows us to focus our energy on implementation – avoiding last-minute surprises that can be especially difficult to manage at peak moments.

As an autistic person, I find particular comfort in feeling prepared. In my daily life, I use tools like Street View to visualise new places before I visit them – a simple but effective strategy for a café down the road. That said, the thought of traveling to Egypt, navigating airports, public transport, hotels, the conference centre, and meeting so many new people all at once was a whole different challenge.

To manage so much change in one go, I sought clarity from a range of resources:

• Internal campaign scoping documents – these helped me understand exactly what I’d be responsible for delivering on the ground.
• Team members who had attended COP before – their insights gave me a clearer idea of what a typical day at the conference centre might look like.
• Logistical handbooks – these added colour to the local transport routes, where I would be staying, and who else would be attending.

This meticulous planning helped me to visualise and feel more comfortable with what lay ahead, making the whole experience far more manageable.

While these strategies were particularly useful for me, they’re the kind of small adjustments that benefit everyone – helping to reduce uncertainty, improve efficiency, and make high-pressure environments easier to navigate for all.

2. Self Care

Looking after yourself is not just important – it’s essential. Learning to recognise and respond to what your body needs is a skill in itself.

Our ability to perceive these internal signals is called ‘interoception’, and like many other autistic people, I struggle with it. I often miss the early signs of hunger until I’m suddenly irritable and don’t know why. Or I’ll only realise I’m dehydrated when a headache sets in, by which point my water bottle has sat untouched for hours.

At home, my partner helps encourage good habits, and we coexist in a rhythm of looking after ourselves. At COP, with long days in the blazing sun and an overwhelming environment, self-care became even more crucial. More still – I was solely responsible for keeping myself well.

To manage this, I set routine mealtimes as much as the event schedule allowed, ensuring I prioritised eating and drinking. The conference centre was loud and bustling, the days were long, and the heat was relentless – a recipe for sensory overload. I kept my noise-cancelling headphones with me at all times, giving myself a quiet moment to decompress when needed.

These small acts of self-care made a huge difference, but by far the most significant was asking for my partner to accompany me to Egypt.

This was a big ask, and in other environments where neurodivergence is less understood, it might have been dismissed. Thankfully, my request was accommodated, easing my concerns about travelling alone as an autistic woman and the extra vulnerability that comes with that. Having him there wasn’t just a comfort – it was a practical necessity that allowed me to focus on my work without the added stress of navigating logistical challenges alone.

As my travel companion, my partner helped me:

• Navigate the confusing processes of extra airport security, and transport to and from the hotel
• Communicate with hotel staff around check-ins when I was overwhelmed and struggling to articulate my needs
• Establish an after-work routine (which definitely included comfort TV and snacks)
• Troubleshoot frazzling moments – including a last-minute hotel change!
• Feel grounded and supported simply by being a familiar presence in an unfamiliar place.

Without him, my experience would have been far more difficult to manage. His presence was a reminder that accommodations like these aren’t about seeking special treatment – they’re about enabling people to participate fully and meaningfully.

By reflecting on this experience, I realise just how much more confident I’ve become in my neurodivergent identity. In the past, I often downplayed my needs, hesitant to take up space or ask for accommodations. Now, I step into these spaces with self-assurance, knowing that my way of experiencing the world is just as valid, and that advocating for myself isn’t just necessary, but empowering.

Participating in COP27 has been a defining moment in my climate comms career, reinforcing not only my expertise but also my confidence in navigating high-profile spaces as an openly neurodivergent professional. None of this would have been possible without the support of my inclusive, understanding team at Empower – a reminder of how much the right environment can enable people to thrive.

3. Fostering an inclusive workplace culture needs more than just platitudes

One of the things that first drew me to Empower – beyond their incredible roster of clients – was their genuine commitment to building an inclusive, diverse workplace. A culture where inclusion isn’t just a box-ticking exercise, but a fundamental part of how the team operates.

From the moment I joined, I saw this in action. Regular EDI calls were meaningful, with tangible steps taken to improve our agency’s approach to equity, diversity and inclusion. This environment gave me something I hadn’t experienced before: the confidence to openly share that I am autistic in the workplace, free from the fear of negative consequences. That’s not something I take for granted.

I truly believe that being able to thrive at Empower as an openly autistic professional was what enabled me to meet the challenge of COP as my most confident, capable self. When neurodivergent people are supported – not in spite of their differences, but because of them – they don’t just cope; they excel. Workplaces have a profound power to create that reality, but it takes more than good intentions. It takes action.

The lessons I took from my time at COP27 continue to shape both my work and my sense of self. Even now, I find myself reflecting on how far I’ve come – from someone who once struggled to go to the corner shop alone to someone who confidently navigated two intense weeks at a global climate summit.

Looking ahead, I’m excited to see what’s next and how I can continue building on these experiences to drive meaningful change. Bring on COP30!