The U.S. will reportedly support a French plan to get countries of the world to ban private financing of coal-fired power plants during the upcoming UN conference, known as COP28, according to Reuters.
COP28 is scheduled for Nov. 30 through Dec. 12.
It's an easy position for France, which uses no coal for electricity.
The plan is likely to drive a rift between the U.S., China and India, which are reliant on coal to feed their economies cheap and reliable electricity.
The proposed plan would allow the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development to set coal standards for private financing companies that would allow regulators, ratings agencies and non-governmental organizations to track coal financing, according to Reuters.
The U.S., European Union and Canada had been working together to assemble a strategy for phasing out coal, which they view as the leading threat to achieving international climate targets, according to Reuters.
Approximately 73% 0f the electricity consumed in India is generated using coal. China permitted an average of two new coal plants each week in 2022, according to analysis conducted by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air.
"The U.S. ... has the largest coal reserves ... in the world,” Dan Kish, a senior research fellow for the institute for Energy Research, told the Daily Caller News Foundation.
Coal is the leading source of electricity in the world.
"All this does is make the rest of the world ... align themselves with China and against the U.S. Uncle Sam is once again made to look like a Dunce under Joe Biden.”
India is reportedly likely to push back against the proposal, or any other proposal to set a deadline for a fossil fuel phase-out, according to Reuters.
Beyond the reported plan to strangle private financing for coal plants, delegates are expected to discuss the shape and stipulations of a so-called “loss and damages” fund, a de facto international climate reparations program, at COP28.
Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry recently suggested that the U.S. will pay “millions” into the fund, a number that many activists and representatives of poorer countries find to be inadequate.
China is unlikely to have any significant obligations to the fund because it is classified as a developing country, despite its status as the world’s top emitter and second-largest economy. (Daily Caller 11/21/23) US Backing New Plan To Cripple Coal Industry At UN Climate Conference | The Daily Caller
No comments:
Post a Comment