A U.S.-brokered agreement with Japan, first reported in ClimateWire, has been making the rounds at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) as member countries prepare for discussions next week on whether to restrict financing for coal through export credit agencies (ClimateWire, Oct. 27).
But new counteroffers from coal-heavy South Korea and Australia that put only the loosest curbs on certain types of coal-fired power plants have thrown a wrench into the negotiations -- and, by extension, U.S. hopes of sending a message ahead of landmark U.N. climate talks in Paris that the rich world is committed to a low-carbon future.
"Australia blocking international moves to reduce financing for new dirty coal plants flies in the face of our appointment as the co-chair of the Green Climate Fund and risks Australia continuing [former Prime Minister Tony] Abbott's approach of playing a blocking role in international climate negotiations," Australian Sen. Larissa Waters, deputy leader of the Australian Greens, said in a Senate speech today.
"The Turnbull government is trying to block moves by the U.S. and Japan to reach a deal to restrict these disastrous fossil fuel subsidies, which are currently holding back the global transition to clean energy," she said. The country's current prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, took office in September.
According to a recent study by a consortium of environmental groups, more than $73 billion in taxpayer dollars from the world's wealthiest nations went to financing coal power generating plants between 2007 and 2014. Of that, nearly half came through export credit agencies.
The United States, the United Kingdom, France and a number of Nordic nations have in recent years imposed strict limits on coal financing through those types of agencies. But other major coal exporters like Japan, Australia, and South Korea have resisted, citing competition, primarily from China.
That started to change in September, activists said, when China agreed in a deal with the United States to rein in its overseas coal development. The United States then used that leverage to craft an agreement with Japan.
Read more at Nations Conflict on Subsidy Rules for Exporting Coal-Fired Power Plants
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