By Anji Seth, Associate Professor, Geography and Chair Atmospheric Sciences Group

Talk of global warming is everywhere here in Marrakech. But in the US people rarely discuss the topic among family and friends.  Global Warming has become akin to politics and religion, a taboo subject in polite company, even as the science has become indisputable and policy is being enacted globally. Why is global warming such a hot button issue that we cannot talk about it?

For the students in our UConn@COP22 group it may seem to always have been this way, but for those of us who have been around the block, we remember a time not long ago when climate science was not controversial. The partisanship on this issue has developed in response to a long well funded and strategic campaign to delay action by creating doubt about the science and discrediting scientists. Since the mid 1990s each time the threat of policy action in the US became real, a well oiled machine (that was refined in the battle against regulating tobacco) went to work to mislead the American public. The end result has been a widening gap between the parties with conservatives doubting the science and progressives calling for action. But this gap is a result of misconceptions and misinformation.

People are entitled to their opinions about what to do about global warming. There are many points of view and valid differences which need to be argued to find the best policies to move forward within each nation. People, however, are not allowed to have their own facts about the science.  Physics, chemistry and biology do not care what a person thinks about how they work.  The science on this topic is straightforward and has been building for over 150 years. To deny the basic science is akin to denying gravity. One can have an opinion in opposition to physics, but physics will win, every time.

The fossil fuel industry has been very successful in normalizing the idea that global warming is a controversial issue. Let’s be done with that. Let’s instead normalize climate action. We already have global commitments to action though the Paris Agreement. We already have federal action though the EPA clean power plan and rules to reduce emissions from transportation. The U.S. federal government just issued a plan to reduce emissions by 80 % by 2050!  Most U.S. states have issued renewable energy portfolios. The worst impacts of global warming can be averted if we have the will.

Let’s not be swayed yet again by the misinformation campaigns that are sure to come. Let’s normalize action on climate, clean energy and jobs of the future. Let’s talk with friends and family and diffuse the denial. The world is moving toward a clean energy future. Let’s lead the way.

Anji Seth, Associate Professor, Geography and Chair, Atmospheric Sciences Group (ASG)

The shock of the US election weighed heavily as our band of 18 (students faculty and staff) departed Storrs for the journey to Marrakech. So many questions, so little reason to hope.

In Paris last December the atmosphere had been electric, as the efforts of  many over a period of 20 years were to culminate in the first unanimous international commitment to limit global warming. Our UConn group experienced first hand the jubilation and sense of promise embodied in the Paris Agreement, even as we recognized that the real work remained ahead.

The road to Marrakech in contrast held a sense of impending doom. US Leadership implementing the Paris agreement may soon be retracted and worse, reverse direction. Stated threats by the president-elect to exit from the Paris Agreement, and perhaps from the UNFCCC treaty were an unexpected burden on the minds of UConn faculty and students who traveled to COP22.

Once here, the cloud began to lift ever so slightly. The city shimmered in desert light, with street banners entreating negotiators: ACT. Questions posed about the effects of the US election were consistently answered thus: the Paris Agreement is now international law and the support for action is unwavering. Implementation will continue with or without the US. In other words the train is in motion and leaving the station. Nations understand that the benefits of action far outweigh the consequences of inaction. Of course U.S. leadership would be welcome, but lack of it will not hold others back. It also helped that our internet connection was intermittent and slow at best and often nonexistent – we were not barraged by a constant stream of headlines from the US, giving us time to consider the unity and resolve of the parties here at COP22. A heartfelt call to action by John Kerry , chief diplomat of the outgoing Obama administration reaffirmed that progress will continue on global reductions of greenhouse gas emissions, which are the primary driver of global warming for the following reasons:

1. The Paris Agreement is now international law.
2. Solar and wind costs are coming down rapidly.
3. China will lead if the US vacates this role.
4. Renewed  commitment by UN Parties to aggressively implement the Paris Agreement [see the Marrakech Action Proclamation]

The train of climate action is gaining momentum and may now have a critical mass to withstand denial and attacks from fossil fuel backed misinformation campaigns. Questions about continued US leadership remain to be answered in the coming months, but here is what we do know:  Most Americans support clean, renewable energy, and action to limit global warming. As citizens we will write the coming chapter of American history and its role in the world. The train has left the station. Are we on board?

Eddie McInerney, Student, Political Science

There were a large number of panel discussions to attend in the Green Zone at COP22, ranging in subject matter from implementation of sustainable practices in the fashion industry, to the implications of climate change on basic human rights. Based on the sessions attended and the topics discussed among faculty and student in the UConn@COP22 group, it seemed that one of the most pressing issues was the younger generation’s role in combatting climate change and how we as students can become involved at the local, national, and international levels.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One of the first questions we heard asked at the conference, and that we asked ourselves in our daily discussions, was how can we spread awareness about climate change to people in the U.S.?  Outreach is desperately needed, especially with President-elect Donald Trump, a self-proclaimed climate denier. We rebounded a number of different ideas through our group, but were not able to reach any compelling revelations. Should we try to get every student who would listen to become an advocate for the issue? Or could we get more done with fewer students who were more knowledgeable? Should we use emotive rhetoric to garner support among older populations, especially those who voted for Trump, or should we focus on better educating their children on the subject matter? It seemed as though we were stuck in a loop.

 

Then, on Wednesday evening, we attended a higher education networking event with students from Cadi Ayyad University in Marrakech, along with students from a number of schools across the United States. The same question was posed by a UConn faculty member: how can we get the younger generation excited about this issue, and to that measure, involved? Ultimately, it seemed the conclusion drawn by both the students and faculty was that we must take action together.  A Moroccan student argued that it is one thing to say you want to stop climate change, but another to actually do something about it, given most students’ pre-occupation with the daily academic workload of assignments, projects and maintaining good grades.

Coming from the higher education networking event meeting, I was inspired by the similarity of our views and the power of climate change as a unifying issue among students from diverse backgrounds and nationalities.  I’m convinced that the surest way for us to combat this issue is to make use of these international connections. Students at UConn and other American universities need to reach out to international students, peer-to-peer, through contacts made during study abroad programs, at future COPs, or otherwise. Mobilizing Millennials and Generation Zs, especially college students, would create a formidable international force for influencing governments and educating youth in ways that give us the best chance at combatting climate change, across all regions of the world.

Christen Bellucci, Student, Environmental Sciences, Human Health Concentration

From the moment we first stepped foot in COP22’s Green Zone, an urgent question presented itself to us: What can universities do to strengthen the fight against climate change? The first panel we attended as a group Monday evening was The Relevance of Green University Networks in Promoting a Sustainable Future, a discussion led by a group of higher education leaders from around the world. One of their primary messages was that universities have a responsibility to exist as leaders in the area of sustainability and climate change mitigation. By building and supporting green campuses, universities embed a sustainability mindset in their students.

Sustainable campuses allow for multiple angles of education, drawing a link between the classroom, initiative, and innovation. As stated in the panel, they “create platforms to turn knowledge into action.” This discussion was so relevant to UConn’s goals of providing its community members with a sustainable living and learning environment. I was encouraged to hear that UConn had already taken on one of the panel’s primary recommendations for optimizing sustainability: managing and monitoring both quantitative and qualitative sustainability metrics. UConn has discovered, developed, and implemented a great number of sustainability initiatives through participation in annual surveys such as the Sierra Club’s Cool Schools ranking.

While at Cadi Ayyad University for our co-hosted event, Colleges United for Climate Action, a student even congratulated us for our number 2 ranking in the international GreenMetric sustainability survey. I was not fully aware until this moment that UConn’s achievements are being recognized throughout the world, confirming the higher education panel’s message that we have a responsibility as a university to act as a leader for our own community, for fellow colleges and universities, and for the world.

Usra Qureshi, Student, Molecular and Cell Biology, Human Rights

I want to believe that everyone has the opportunity to participate in environmentally friendly practices, that every community knows enough about climate change to understand the urgency of the situation. And that sustainability is affordable for all.

The reality is morose. Liberals, academics and the upper class are communities privileged and enabled by the understanding of climate change, and all afforded access to sustainable measures meant to keep our world going.

COP22 in itself felt accessible to few. During a session on funding sustainable practices in Africa, one man went on an unforgettably impassioned monologue about how COP22 would not have been frequented by so many African voices had it not been taking place in Africa. The Innovation Zone was found to be populated by incredible inventions and visions that would undoubtedly change lives – so long as you came from a lineage of royalty.

Certainly, the world becomes more aware by the day about the impacts of climate change. But we keep educating those who are already educated. This is a problem. Continuously, there is a failure to frame the subject in a way that is understandable to the average person. Climate change is incomprehensible. Sustainability is inaccessible. Change is unaffordable.

So before we expect them to understand and join the revolution, we ourselves need to fix the way we enable. It is a privilege to be able to understand climate change. It is time we make it a right.