Page 5 - AsiaElec Week 37 2021

AsiaElec COMMENTARY AsiaElec

China is also isolated as the last remaining renewables in Africa and elsewhere.
major provider of public finance for overseas Multilateral development banks (MDBs)
coal projects, following Japan and South Korea’s such as the African Development Bank (AfDB)
recent commitments to end coal finance. have also walked away from coal in the devel-
An end to Chinese finance would facilitate oping world.
the cancellation of over 40 GW of pipeline pro-
jects in 20 countries. COP is coming
While welcome, the report identified Asian Looking ahead, the E3G report stressed that coal
countries as maintaining their support for coal. expansion is now concentrated in just a handful
Global Energy Monitor said in June that the of countries, meaning that action by just six of
global coal industry was in fact chasing expan- them could remove 82% of the remaining global
sion, with 2.277bn tonnes per year (tpy) of new pipeline of pre-construction projects.
coal mining capacity currently under develop- China, because of its sheer size and because
ment, the equivalent of 30% of 2019 global out- of its role as the last major source of coal financ-
put of 8.135bn tonnes. ing, has a pivotal role to play in reducing’s coal’s
The report said that China, Australia, India importance in the global power industry.
and Russia were the key drivers of coal expan- If China followed its East Asian neighbours
sion, accounting for 77% (1,750mn tpy) of Japan and South Korea in ending overseas
development. coal finance, it would facilitate the cancellation
of over 40 GW of pipeline projects across 20
Africa countries.
Sub-Saharan Africa has a pipeline of 15 GW (5% UN Secretary-General António Guterres said
of the global total), down 47% since 2015. Over in August that there must be now new coal plants
this period seven countries have fully scrapped if the world is to meet its climate targets.
their pipeline. This leaves 13 countries still con- “This report must sound a death knell for coal
sidering coal, but with only South Africa and and fossil fuels, before they destroy our planet.
Zimbabwe currently constructing new plants. There must be no new coal plants built after
Crucially, Chinese financial institutions are 2021. OECD countries must phase out existing
involved in 13 projects in eight countries, total- coal by 2030, with all others following suit by
ling 11.4 GW of planned capacity (76% of the 2040. Countries should also end all new fossil
total pipeline in the region). fuel exploration and production, and shift fos-
However, cancelling such projects would sil-fuel subsidies into renewable energy,” he said.
help African countries to avoid locking them- With Africa, Europe and much of Asia now
selves into an expensive and polluting energy moving away from coal, only China and parts
source, and the risk of costly asset stranding. of developing Asia are left promoting the fuel,
For example, Kenya had abandoned the Chi- while the science and political support is increas-
nese-backed 1,050-MW Lamu coal project after ingly becoming against coal.
environmental campaigners fought the matter “The world’s leading scientific bodies are
in court. clear: coal power needs to be essentially phased
The Lamu project had originally been pro- out in the next two decades to prevent danger-
moted as an alternative to expensive diesel-fired ous climate change,” said the report’s co-author
power. However, with falling costs for new wind Christine Shearer, programme director at Global
and solar plants, coal can no longer undercut Energy Monitor.™

Week 37 15•September•2021 www. NEWSBASE .com P5