Page 12 - AfrElec Week 44 2021

AfrElec COAL AfrElec

Morocco and Egypt lead African

countries commit to end coal

MOROCCO A swathe of African countries signed up to Other African countries signed up to both of
the Global Coal to Clean Power Transition these major initiatives, as well as more general
Statement at COP26 on November 4, with plans to scale up our deployment of clean power
Morocco and Egypt both making substantial generation and energy efficiency measures.
commitment. The African countries also agreed to a frame-
Egypt is the largest African coal burner to work of financial, technical and social support
sign, which calls for an end to coal generation in to affected workers, sectors and communities to
the 2030s (or as soon as possible thereafter) for make a just and inclusive transition.
major economies and in the 2040s (or as soon The other African countries to sign up
as possible thereafter) for the world as a whole. included Cote d’Ivoire, Mauritania, Mauritius,
With South Africa sealing an $8.5bn deal Senegal and Zambia.
with rich countries to move forward with ending A key addition to the deal was Indonesia;
coal, although it did not sign the COP26 state- however, it did not agree to ending unabated
ment, about 95% of the continent’s coal capacity coal. Indonesia also said that it could only meet
is now covered by commitments to close it. the 2040 target for ending coal power if it secured
The agreement also calls for countries to international financial and technical assistance.
cease issuing permits for unabated coal plants, Otherwise, it would only be able to reach net
cease new construction of unabated coal-fired zero by 2060.
power generation projects and to end new direct Meanwhile, the Philippines did not commit
government support for unabated international to any phase out date for coal or to unabated coal,
coal-fired power generation. but did sign on to supporting general plans for
While Egypt has supported both of these clean power.
aims, Morocco did not endorse the 2040 target The major absentees were China, India, Aus-
for developing economies, making it an outlier tralia and the US, where coal is a crucial part of
in Africa. the generation mix.
Botswana, meanwhile, did not sign up to an Although these countries have made other
end to unabated coal projects, signalling that green commitments, it is a major setback for the
it will continue to develop its nascent coal-bed move away from coal that these four countries
methane (CBM) industry. have not committed to clear targets.™

P12 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 44 04•November•2021