CT experts, activists: COP27 succeeded with loss and damages, failed to crack down on fossil fuels

Thirty years after the concept was first introduced, leaders at the 2022 United Nations climate change conference agreed on a fund for "loss and damage," in which richer countries would compensate developing nations for climate change impacts. Over 100 heads of state and 35,000 attendees gathered in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt for the 27th Conference of the Parties (COP27), an annual summit that aims to hasten international response to climate change. The agreement on the loss and damage fund was the culmination of two week-long negotiations that went into overtime on Sunday, Nov. 20. The United States and other wealthy nations had long opposed the plan in fear they'd face legal liability for the impact of their emissions, but they reversed course in the waning days of this year’s summit. What CT experts think of the final outcome Jim O’Donnell, the executive director of the Connecticut Institute for Resilience and Climate Adaptation, attended the conference in Egypt and was “pleasantly surprised” when he heard about the agreement. “The fact that Europeans acknowledged their responsibility to share the costs of adaptation projects in the less affluent part of the world, where impacts are imminent. That's a really positive thing. And that encouraged the U.S. to join too,” he said. However, while the commitment to a loss and damage fund is “substantial” and is a “step in the right direction,” countries now must decide how much money is needed and how the funds will be used, O’Donnell said. "I can't really tell right now if it has to be 10 years or 20 years," he said. "These numbers need to be developed and refined." A decade ago, The United States, the European Union and other wealthy nations pledged to channel $100 billion a year in climate finance to developing countries by 2020, but they are still falling short by tens of billions of dollars annually. Last year, the Biden administration aimed for $2.5 billion in climate finance but secured $1 billion. Joseph MacDougald, the executive director for UConn’s Center for Energy and Environmental Law, did not attend the conference but is optimistic that countries will gather the funds necessary to fulfill the agreement's promises. It will take several years for the fund to go into effect fully, he said. “History shows that international consensus is slow moving, but it does work,” he said. Matt Plourd, co-director of the CT chapter of the Sunrise Movement, a youth activist organization, said this year’s COP was "an abject failure.” He said he was disappointed in the lack of discussions around phasing out fossil fuels and methods for reversing global warming. The COP27 agreement reiterated the goal of keeping global warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius below pre-industrial levels, but many nations blocked a proposal to phase out all fossil fuels. Plourd did not attend the summit, but said many of his fellow Sunrise activists felt their exhausted efforts weren't making a difference on negotiations and there was a notable presence of fossil fuel lobbyists. Over 600 fossil fuel lobbyists registered to attend COP27, a 25 percent rise from last year’s summit. "At this point, there is a lot of concern as to whether or not these conferences are actually serving a purpose," he said. What it means for Connecticut If countries don’t find a clear pathway to staying below 1.5 degrees of warming, the effects would be detrimental to the state, which is already feeling the impact of climate change. New England is warming faster than the rest of the planet, according to a 2021 study published in the scientific journal Climate. And Connecticut is one of the region's fastest warming states. “I think one thing is clear: the last few years have shown us that the world is a tightly connected place. Like a ship getting stuck in the Suez Canal and virus outbreaks in China, it can affect the economy and the life of people in Connecticut pretty quickly,” O’Donnell said. Russia’s war on Ukraine has resulted in abnormally high spikes in electricity prices for Connecticut and other New England residents. MacDougald said Connecticut can solve this issue by shifting its dependency on natural gas to renewable sources, and global agreements can set a precedent. “The stronger the global agreement, the better we will function locally,” he said. Connecticut is falling behind on its climate goals, and there’s still a presence of fossil fuel lobbying. But the state has tried to increase reliance on renewable energy. Over the past year, Connecticut has passed a law to reduce emissions from the transportation sector, and Gov. Ned Lamont has introduced many climate initiatives that capitalize on funding from the Federal Inflation Reduction Act, which was signed into law by Biden in August. Connecticut has also committed to making its electric grid carbon-free by 2040. Plourd said many Connecticut leaders have served as "champions" for climate action in the U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) has urged federal agencies to invest in shoreline projects and fund coastal resilience projects. “In Connecticut, we’re grateful to have such strong partnerships with really great legislators. In the legislature, on these issues, whether it's environmental justice, energy, water and air quality, we have really strong partnerships,” Plourd said. He and other Sunrise advocates plan to keep meeting with Connecticut officials and attend hearings to ensure the state does its part in reducing global emissions. “What we want to express for young folks is that they don't have to take that burden on alone,” he said. “There are things we can do right now to affect change on these issues.”

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