Creative Commons: Herry Lawford, 2005
If 2015 was “the year that coal broke”, 2016 is already confirming it’s unfixable.
China announced the closure of 1,000 coal mines, while 2015 US coal production was shown to be the lowest in 30 years, as yet another of the country’s major coal players filed for bankruptcy.
The coal industry complains it is being “vilified” as “public energy number one”, but fresh research shows the harm new plants would do.
Only a few nations now linger at the toxic coal party: Australia is exporting as much coal as it can despite the fact it’s making its citizens sick.
India is still banking on coal despite its renewable energy ambition. Poland and Turkey want to burn even more of the black stuff.
But with renewables making countries both wealthier and healthier, and a clean energy future indicated at the highest levels, there is no reason to cling onto harmful fossil fuels.
Those countries which do could face legal consequences, as well as dealing with the inevitable damage to their economy, health and community.
Key Points
- Replacing fossils with renewables benefits lungs and wallets. The US was up to $5.5 billion richer in 2013 due to the cleaner air brought by renewables. Reducing air pollution by ditching dirty energy not only protects people’s health – especially that of children and the most vulnerable – it saves money on medical care and sick days.
- Strong laws send renewables soaring. Strong and stable government policies give investors confidence and let renewables thrive. By implementing clean energy targets and legislation, more and more governments around the world are boosting business, jobs and the economy.
- Paris widened the way to a clean, safe future. The momentum encapsulated in the Paris Agreement will now be transformed into “implementation and action”. Rapidly establishing clear rules for the agreed emissions reductions and climate finance will help speed up the transition to a healthy, sustainable renewable energy future which leaves no-one behind.