Warsaw,
Poland — If we are to avert catastrophic
climate change the world must quit coal.
But, the industry and the powerful forces
which rely on it will not go down without
a fight. Today, in Warsaw, Greenpeace, provided
them with two reminders of why we should
quit coal.
Our activists dumped
coal on the doorstep of a luxury Warsaw
hotel, where industry ministers from 20
countries are meeting to discuss coal’s
future, unveiling a banner saying 'Get serious,
quit coal!'. Greenpeace has also published
a report on the “True Cost of Coal”: estimating
the annual financial costs of coals’ climate
impact, health impact and the cost of deadly
mining accidents.
Hosted by the Polish
Government, the conference documents claim
that the meeting is being held to agree
on policies to help the climate - but the
agenda reveals it is about saving profits,
not the planet.
Background documents
on the ‘Summit on Sectoral Cooperation,’
describe coal as the main fuel for power
generation in the future and discuss "adequate
policy actions." The documents hold
up the Asia Pacific Partnership on Clean
Development and Climate as a “spectacular”
example of good policy initiatives on climate
protection”. But, this partnership is just
a coal pact - an agreement by some of the
world's leading polluters to do nothing
in particular, by no particular time and
in no particular way. In the face of catastrophic
climate change that’s worse than nothing.
The True Cost of Coal
Coinciding with this
meeting is the release of our report “The
True Cost of Coal”, which describes the
costs coal imposes on society. Produced
in conjunction with the independent Dutch
Institute CE Delft, the report puts a price
tag on some of the more obvious damages
caused along the coal chain-of-custody,
including climate change, health impacts
from air pollution and loss of life from
mining accidents. Last year, these damages
cost the world at least 360 billion euros.
Download the True Cost
of Coal report
Of course not all the
costs of coal can be measured in dollars
and cents. In Columbia, indigenous communities
are threatened and forced off their lands
to make way for coal mines; thousands in
Jharia, India, suffer from horrendous living
conditions because of uncontrollable coal
fires; in Russia, unsafe mining conditions
have meant injury and death for scores of
workers. We tell twelve of these stories
in our report, but there are thousands more
to be found wherever coal is mined or burned.
In places like Indonesia,
China and Thailand, air pollution from coal
combustion is destroying livelihoods, damaging
ancient relics, reducing crop yields and
killing people. The legacy of mining ensures
that land in South Africa will continue
to be poisoned by acid mine drainage long
after mines are closed. Iin the Kuyavia-Pomerania
region of Poland, mining activities have
caused the water level of Lake Ostrowskie
to drop dramatically. In the United States
coal has meant blowing up mountains, burying
streams and contaminating nearby communities.
In Germany, reclaiming opencast mines has
created dead lakes with water as acid as
vinegar.
However, in response
to the unmitigated destruction and harm
caused by coal, communities are rising up.
In Australia, winemakers, horse breeders,
local residents and miners are saying no
to mine expansion and yes to a just transition
to renewable energy. In the Philippines,
a diverse group has united to oppose a new
coal-fired power station, calling instead
for clean energy development. Stories such
as these inspire, provide hope and point
towards a better future - one not marred
by dirty coal but fuelled by energy sources
that are safe, sustainable and will protect
our climate.
Poland threatens climate
package
The EU is days away
from sealing a deal on its own response
to climate change, with a series of laws
known as the ‘climate package’, which should
provide a boost to renewable energy and
reduce Europe’s reliance on coal. The European
position will have a massive bearing on
global negotiations to strengthen the successor
to the Kyoto Protocol, culminating in Copenhagen
at the end of next year.
Tell EU Leaders to defend
the climate package
Poland is currently
threatening to block the EU package. Despite
a recent report showing that implementing
the proposed climate package would benefit
the Polish economy, vested interests have
convinced the Polish government otherwise.
Poland generates 90% of its power from burning
coal, and the industry has convinced the
government that their interests come before
those of the climate.
Perhaps that’s why there
won’t be any representatives from the renewable
industry attending the Sheraton shindig.
A future without coal
is not only possible, it is necessary if
we are to reduce greenhouse gas emissions
and avoid catastrophic climate change. The
most effective way to do this is for the
world to work together under one agreement.
Poland, host of the upcoming climate talks,
in Poznan, could have designed a meeting
to help progress towards an environmentally
effective global agreement on climate protection
rather than one likely to hinder it.
We’re calling on all
countries at the UN climate negotiations
next week to get serious and put a meaningful
proposal on the table. The proposal must
include a “climate vision” which will address
what the science requires: global emissions
peaking by 2015. We want to see developed
countries agree to targets of 25-40%, along
with a draft negotiating text on the table
and a detailed workplan to get this completed
by Copenhagen in December 2009.
