Government defends coal use for poor
Climate summit in Poland to finalise Paris 2015 rules
Thembisile Majola, the deputy energy minister, expects the latest round of climate talks will make global markets cleaner starting in 2019 and defended SA’s coal use as a way to reduce poverty.
“With the Germans, they can say ‘We’re moving from driving a Corolla to a BMW,’ while we are still trying to get the bicycle,” said Majola in an interview in London. “They’re talking about different technologies, we’re talking about access.”
Her comments reflect a 30year debate between rich and emerging economies set to continue at COP24, the international climate conference in Katowice, Poland, in December. It is meant to finalise the rules of the 2015 Paris climate deal while President Donald Trump is seeking to pull the US out of it.
Meanwhile, economic costs and deaths from storms, floods, landslides and forest fires mount around the world.
“Globally, there’s a commitment because the reality is that it’s out there,” Majola said.
“I actually believe it’s not an optional thing because this is not something that’s just been left to governments.”
Her confidence in the success of the UN talks seems surprising given a lack of progress in many of the world’s rich nations. Last week in the US midterms a ballot to install a carbon price in Washington state failed. In Canada, Ontario province backed out of its carbon market.
Coal- and gas-rich Australia earlier this year ousted its prime minister as he attempted to beef up climate policy.
In Germany a governmentestablished commission that has been running this year to decide coal’s fate in Europe’s biggest economy could make a decision around the time of the talks.
“They could do it if they really wanted because if the commission does not deliver a result, the government can decide,” said Franz-Josef Wodopia, MD of the VDKi coal importers group.
The industrialised West is responsible for most of the emissions that have led to climate change, but emerging countries are catching up fast. Some poorer nations argue that they should not have to bear an equal amount of the cost and should still be allowed to prioritise economic growth over pollution reduction.
A key element of the Paris agreement signed in 2015 by nearly 200 nations was the promise for the developed world to transfer $100bn a year by 2020 to the developing world to support them in transitioning their energy, industrial and agriculture systems. SA is looking for progress on that goal.
“There can’t be a transition that’s one size fits all; we need a transition that brings everyone along because there are different levels of pollution,” Majola said.
SA hopes to attract about $25bn of foreign investment in the next five years for its energy industry.