Last Friday, 39 organizations from across Europe, Asia, Africa, South America and the United States sent a letter to the Turkish G20 President and all G20 finance ministers, calling for the ministers to set out a strict timeline for the phase-out of fossil fuel subsidies.
New BankTrack report highlights that commercial banks are ignoring climate limits, financing a record US$88 billion for coal operations in 2013.
This week, the Central Java Coal Power Project added to its list of failures, as continued refusal by villagers to sell their land for the proposed coal plant has forced the Indonesian government to yet again extend the deadline for financial closure of the project. This provides yet another reason for the World Bank to intervene.
Today, over 30 groups from around the world, including Oil Change International, sent an open letter to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe ahead of his meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama on April 24th urging Japan to follow the United States and other countries' pledges to stop financing coal overseas.
Two important actions were added to the growing list of recent global steps curbing public finance for coal. First, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) joined the World Bank and European Investment Bank (EIB) in adopting a new Energy Strategy that significantly restricts support for coal power projects. As the second climate feat of the week, the U.S. government voted no on the Board of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for a proposed coal power plant in Pakistan. However, even though the U.S. and several other countries voted no or abstained from supporting the Pakistan coal plant, the ADB board still had a simple majority, and therefore approved $900 million in funding for the 600 MW Jamshoro coal plant.
A new investigation by Oil Change International shows that the World Bank’s infrastructure program in Indonesia reads like a coal industry wish list stipulating policies and government subsidies that promote the fast-tracked development of over 40 coal projects in the country ahead of developing feasible renewable alternatives.
