Coal news and updates

The G20 countries continue pumping billions in overseas coal development and Japan's plans to build dozens of so-called high-efficiency coal power plants, both of which undermine the landmark Paris Agreement and clean energy deployment, two new reports said on Monday.

 

Over the past nine years, the G20 countries -- led by China, Japan, Germany, South Korea and the US -- have kicked in $76 billion to further coal development in countries such as Vietnam, South Africa, Australia and Indonesia, US-based environmental group Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) said in its report.

 

The report, "Carbon Trap: How International Coal Finance Undermines the Paris Agreement and Clean Energy Deployment", was released on Monday by the NRDC and the Oil Change International on the sidelines of 22nd session of the Conference of the Parties (COP22) here.

 

In Paris last December, nearly 200 countries agreed to slash their dependence on fossil fuels in a concerted effort to limit global temperature rise to well below 2 degrees Celsius over pre-industrial level in order to avoid a climate crisis.

 

The Kiko Network also released a report here challenging Japan's plans to build dozens of so-called high efficiency coal power plants.

 

Essentially this means that, says the NRDC report, on one hand, some of the world's leading polluters have pledged to lower climate-changing carbon pollution within their borders under the Paris Climate Change Agreement, while on the other, these countries are facilitating a massive boom in that carbon pollution by financing coal development elsewhere, and the planet ultimately suffers.

 

"Our climate knows that countries can't have it both ways. They can't publicly boast about slashing climate pollution at home while also continuing to finance enormous coal development abroad," said report co-author Han Chen, international climate advocate at the NRDC.

 

"These nations need to clean up their act. They should stop pouring billions into dirty energy and instead put more financial muscle behind clean, renewable energy, and energy efficiency. That will create jobs and protect the planet from climate catastrophe."

 

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change states the burning of fossil fuels is contributing to the rise in global temperatures.

 

Unfortunately, key governments continue to invest in projects that further the world's dependence on coal, making climate change worse.

Source: Energy. ET