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    For a change, rich nations in focus for not giving up coal

    Synopsis

    Amid the United States' defence of coal, a new initiative led by the UK and Canada to phase out use of coal for electricity generation has raised hope.

    ET Bureau
    Coal has taken centre stage as the two-week-long UN-sponsored climate talks wind down. But unlike in the past, the focus is not on the reliance on coal by developing countries like India and China. Instead, it is the continued use of coal in rich industrialised countries such as Germany and the United States’ support for fossil fuel industries that has come in for criticism.

    Earlier in the week, a programme on “clean coal” organised by the official delegation of the US at the climate summit was met with protests. The programme, the only one by the US government during the summit—came out in defence of fossil fuels. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who addressed leaders during the high-level segment of the climate summit, was expected to make an announcement on shutting down the more polluting coal plants. But Merkel, who is in the midst of alliance talks to form the country’s federal government, chose to only stress that tackling climate change would require countries like Germany to be more aggressive.

    But the disappointment didn’t last long. A new initiative, led by the UK and Canada, to phase out the use of coal for electricity generation gave hope. “Limiting the role of coal in the global electricity mix is essential to make the Paris Agreement a reality,” said Erin Flanagan, federal policy director at the Pembina Institute.

    The initiative, ‘Global Alliance to Power Past Coal’, is a platform that brings together countries and sub-national entities that are committing to phase out coal within their jurisdictions within a timeline. In a declaration, the alliance said that coal phaseout needed to be carried out “no later than by 2030” in the OECD and EU countries, and “no later than by 2050” in the rest of the world to meet the temperature goals set in the Paris Agreement.

    “Phasing out coal power is one of the most important steps governments can take to tackle climate change and meet our commitment to keep global temperature increase well below 2 degree Celsius (compared to pre-industrial times), and to pursue efforts to limit it to 1.5 degree Celsius,” the ‘declaration’ said.

    “This is very good news; coal is the most polluting form of fuel that we use, and phasing it out as quickly as possible is essential for keeping climate change within reasonable limits,” said Lord Michael Howard, Former UK conservative leader.

    Eighteen countries, including the developing ones like Angola and Mexico and industrialised countries such as New Zealand, Denmark, and Canada, and states such as Alberta, Ontario and Montreal have already joined the alliance.

    Commending the UK government for its leadership on this issue, Howard said, “I hope that we will see more countries joining the alliance in the coming months.”

    Industrialised countries must now translate their intent into action. “Nowhere is that transition more important than in Canada, where the federal government’s leadership in this global alliance needs to be matched by real emissions reductions at home,” said Catherine Abreu, executive director, Climate Action Network Canada.

    The focused attention on phasing out coal in industrialised countries has been in part driven by aggressive efforts by developing countries like China and India to increase the share of solar and wind in their energy basket.

    “With examples like the India-led solar alliance, which will add 1,000 gigawatts of solar energy by 2030, and the 100% renewable commitments from many of the worlds’ most vulnerable countries, the age of renewable energy is clearly upon us,” said Abreu.

    The increased pressure on governments in industrialised countries to phase out the use of coal will contribute to increasing trust among countries particularly in the developing world. Efforts like the global alliance, observers said, demonstrate the intent of countries to take concrete measures to reduce and ultimately stop using dirty fossil fuels. They argue that efforts like these would give the global south the comfort and space to undertake similar measures, either as part of the alliance or on their own. “This is the true spirit of the Paris Agreement, and it is alliances like this that give me confidence that we can win this race,” said Laurence Tubiana, a key architect of the Paris Agreement who served as France’s special ambassador for climate change.

    As the conversation in India on poor air quality moves beyond Delhi, the European Union’s efforts to approach the issue of reducing carbon dioxide pollution through tougher air quality regulations will provide interesting learning.
    In July 2017, the European Commission adopted new standards for large combustion plants, which include coal plants. By 2021, all coal-fired power plants in the EU will have to meet these new standards if these are to remain operational. According to a recent study by Berlin-based non-profit climate science and policy institute, Climate Analytics, about 82% of coal-based power plants in the EU-- 80% German and virtually all Polish coal power plants—are not in compliance with the new EU regulation on industry air pollution emissions standards.

    In India, the environment ministry issued emission norms for coal-fired power plants in 2015. However, these norms are yet to be implemented and there is pressure to dilute them. Experts participating in the climate summit at Bonn suggest that focusing on the air quality aspect to address emissions of pollutants from power plants and industry could create the necessary public pressure.

    “Apart from being the largest source of carbon dioxide emissions, coal combustion is also a major threat to public health globally. Pollution from coal plants is responsible for about 23,000 premature death in the EU every year,” said Bill Hare, CEO of Climate Analytics.

    While poor air quality in Delhi gets the public limelight, the situation in cities and small towns across the country, especially in the Indo-Gangetic plain is far from ideal. In this region, unlike in Delhi, coal is a factor contributing to poor air quality. Research by Sagnik Dey, associate professor at Centre for Atmospheric Sciences at IIT Delhi, points to industry and power plants as sources of air pollution in the Indo-Gangetic region. However, Dey points outs that coal-powered plants and industry are not the only contributors to the region’s poor air quality. He said biomass burning, household emission (biofuel), vehicular emission, brick kilns and DG sets add to the problem.


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    ( Originally published on Nov 17, 2017 )
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