Coal and Copenhagen
For many, coal is part of the climate change problem rather than the solution. The World Coal Institute has been attending the UN climate talks for many years giving voice to the industry’s argument that coal not only can, but has to be part of a successful solution to climate change. While for many years the reception received by the coal industry in these forums has not been hugely welcoming, the tide has started to turn as governments and other stakeholders have realised that trying to tackle climate change without tackling the issue of coal is futile.
Coal is “here to stay”
Yvo de Boer, the head of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, has stated that: “Fossil fuels are here to stay and will continue to be the drivers of growth. It is a collective responsibility to use these fossil fuels without destroying our environment. Let us not cut off our nose to spite our face by refusing to explore the technologies that can help us to achieve this.”
A key turning point has been the growing awareness of the role that is to be played by carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies. The International Energy Agency (IEA) has studied a number of global GHG reduction scenarios and concluded that CCS is “the most important single new technology for CO2 savings” in both power generation and industry. The IEA found that attempting to stabilise emissions without CCS is estimated to be 71% more expensive; equivalent to US$ 1.28 trillion annually in 2050.
Financing CCS projects
For the World Coal Institute, a key activity in Copenhagen and at previous UN meetings has been working to secure agreement on CCS as Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) project activities. The CDM is the only market-based mechanism under the Kyoto Protocol that would finance CCS projects in developing countries – and yet, at present, it excludes CCS projects. As a result, developing countries are denied the opportunity to deploy this critical technology, their capacity to contribute to emissions reductions is limited and the global effort to reduce emissions is undermined.
A push for CCS
It is essential that the UNFCCC facilitates the availability of all low carbon and efficient technologies, including CCS. The limited action to further CCS during the Kyoto Protocol’s first commitment period has hindered efforts on CCS and must be rectified to allow this critical technology to contribute to global greenhouse gas mitigation.
As Nobuo Tanaka, the head of the IEA, asserted earlier this year: “The deployment of CCS should be a ‘litmus’ test for the seriousness of environmental negotiators dealing with the climate challenge”.
Copenhagen 2009 is the time to get serious.
Milton Catelin, Chief Executive, World Coal Institute.
www.worldcoal.org
Read the article online at: https://www.worldcoal.com/coal/30092009/coal_and_copenhagen/
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