United Nations climate chief Christiana Figueres said that coal power can be part of the solution to curbing global warming, but it would require shuttering older coal power plants, advancing carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology, and resolving to leave much of the planet’s existing coal reserves in the ground.
Her remarks, given at the International Coal and Climate Summit in Warsaw, are drawing criticism from environmentalists who oppose continued reliance on coal power. John Gummer, the chair of the U.K.’s climate advisers and former U.K. environment minister, told the Guardian that “calling coal a clean solution is like characterizing sex trafficking as marriage guidance.”
Figueres said that coal power holds promise as a means of helping poorer countries develop their economies and reduce poverty, but said that the industry “must change.” Figueres joins the growing list of climate leaders who say that more than half of remaining fossil fuel reserves must be left in the ground in order to avoid massive carbon emissions that could destabilize the climate.
Article appearing courtesy Yale Environment 360.
