Four issues to watch at the COP27 global climate summit

The world is gearing up for COP27, the United Nations climate summit that starts Sunday. 

Held in Sharm el-Sheik, Egypt, the summit is expected to draw world leaders including President Biden, new British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and new Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, along with representatives of scores of other countries.

Experts say it comes at a critical time in the fight against climate change.

Here are four key issues to watch at COP27: 

Will the global energy crisis eclipse other problems?

A combination of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, inflation and general pandemic recovery have sent global energy markets into a tailspin, potentially overshadowing efforts to reduce reliance on fossil fuels. 

Europe and the U.S. have sought to reduce their reliance on Russian fuels in the wake of the invasion. But Russia was a major supplier of Europe’s natural gas, meaning some countries have had to take drastic measures in order to ensure that their constituents can keep the lights on. 

Germany, for example, over the summer reactivated previously out-of-commission coal plants. 

Other nations, such as the U.S., have sought to ramp up their natural gas exports to help European allies, even if that means more planet-warming fossil fuels. The U.S. has also called on oil producers to drill more in the wake of high gasoline prices. 

On the other hand, countries that have struggled to replace Russian fuel have also looked to clean energy. Earlier this year, the European Union said it would try to cut its reliance on Russian gas by two-third and that it would pursue more rooftop solar, energy-efficient heat pumps and faster approvals for renewable energy projects. 

A recent report from the International Energy Agency found that the Ukrainian invasion caused some structural changes that may accelerate the transition to carbon-free energy sources. 

Nathan Hultman, who formerly worked on international climate issues for the Biden administration, also pointed to the potential for green energy technologies to help with energy security challenges.

“Thinking about that is possible because it’s not only utilizing the conventional, old technologies that were built previously and maybe could be relied on as a little bit of a temporary bridge, but also the fact that we have good, new clean technologies that we can begin to deploy,” said Hultman, who now directs the University of Maryland’s…