Coal news and updates

UN Secretary-General calls for end to new coal plants after 2020

Countries should call time on new coal-fired power plants from next year, the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has declared in an interview warning inaction on climate change could bring "total disaster" to the world.

In an interview published yesterday by the Associated Press, Guterres said countries must be prepared to "transform" their economies by moving away from fossil fuels and embracing renewables and other green technologies such as electric cars.

Specifically, Guterres called on countries to build no new coal power plants from 2020 and to put a price on carbon emissions, warning that if dramatic action is not taken to keep global temperature rises to under two degrees there will be "total disaster".

"If you don't hang on to that goal, what you'll achieve is a total disaster," he said.

The global pipeline for new coal projects has shrunk in recent years, as environmental regulations have tightened and competition from low cost renewables and gas has intensified.

However, it remains far from clear whether major developing nations such as China and India would countenance ending development of new coal plants as earler as next year, given both are still building out coal-fired power stations with more in the pipeline for well beyond 2020.

Source: BusinessGreen