The prospect of UConn becoming completely carbon neutral by 2030, a goal set out by President Radenka Maric, is one that needs to be questioned more starkly. The university is quick to address itself as “an international model of sustainability”. However, many of its bold claims are not met with any significant infrastructure to support them.
Two years ago, the University had assured students it would go carbon-neutral by the year 2030 and reach a Carbon Net Zero by 2040. Now it has pushed this goal back to 2050. The Climate Action Plan (CAP) set out by the university is one that, in most cases, overpromises and underdelivers.
Within the plan are ‘broad strokes’ headers such as maximising efficiency and reducing food waste. However, looking deeper, the strategies to actually implement this are, like much of the document itself, empty.
In its Sustainable Action Plan, one that it claims will facilitate carbon neutrality by 2030, the university harks of initiatives such as the Depot Campus Fuel Cell and the Northeast Hydrogen Hub. Latching on to these more eye-catching features ignores some of the fundamental systemic issues such as extensive water and energy usage, as well as food waste, that the university has been wilfully sidestepping.
According to the administration, UConn has tried to significantly cut down on fuel usage in recent years. “Our vision is for UConn to be a global leader in the international campaign to address the existing threat posed by climate change. We are committed to advancing sustainability in all we do,” Maric recently said However, how many of these long-term commitments are entirely performative, with few tangible signs that the university is moving towards the goals they have set out for itself.
The university claims it will revamp how it provides clean energy in study buildings and around different residence halls. However, in a university with over 32,000 students the overall achievability of this looks less than likely.
The greatest indicator that UConn is not fulfilling its commitments is the consistent and growing calls for change from students themselves. Groups such as EcoHusky and UConn’s previous Fridays For Future activism groups have put together a front which shows they will no longer accept the university’s passivity around endemic climate issues that truly matter. This is designed to force UConn’s administration to be more accountable when it comes to their sustainability efforts.
In advocating for more immediacy in the actions the university takes, groups such as Fossil Fuel Free UConn (FFFU) have run more overtly targeted campaigns designed to limit the university wide consumption of fossil fuels. On campus protests and rallies have been drawn together. With hindsight, the university should wake up and take notice of student body that is asking to see tangible change rather than pure rhetoric.
The reality is that earth is currently around 2.45 degrees Fahrenheit above preindustrial levels (1850-1900). This distinguishes a definitive tipping point in what the planet can cope with. On a more local scale, in 2018, Connecticut’s GHG emissions were 42.2 million metric tons (MMT) of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e). The state’s emissions have been on the rise in recent years, and this has made a significant impact on the capacity to reach future climate goals.
If the University does not change course, it risks completely losing sight of students, putting forward initiatives that are purely symbolic and don’t tackle the real issue. As of 2022, Sena Wazer, an environmental science alum from the university claimed UConn had fallen “woefully short on its sustainable action and environmental policy.” She articulated that although UConn has taken some smaller steps, a lot of the big actions still remain relatively undecided.
Wazer argues that what the university is in need of is significant infrastructure transition if it hopes to make good on its climate goals for 2030. However, it is hard to see where all the energy and effort of the UConn administration is going. It has already pushed back this deadline and there is nothing stopping it from doing the same again. The students of the university deserve to see and experience progress, rather than hear about changes that are simply not being felt.