LIFE AFTER COAL RESPONSE TO RECENT STATEMENTS AROUND “CLEAN COAL”

The Centre for Environmental Rights, on behalf of the Life After Coal Campaign, wrote to South Africa's Minister of Energy to object to the use of the term "clean coal" in government statements. The letter argues that "clean coal" is a myth and that the only sustainable path is a phase-out of coal in favor of renewable energy to meet climate targets and ensure a just transition.

• The Life After Coal Campaign objects to the South African government's use of the term "clean coal," asserting that it is a "misnomer and highly misleading" because it ignores the environmental, health, and climate impacts of the entire coal cycle.
• The document claims that "clean coal" technology is impossible and that no solutions exist to neutralize most of the impacts caused by the mining, beneficiation, and combustion of coal, especially when compared to cheaper alternatives like wind and solar power.
• Evidence of a domestic shift away from coal in South Africa is cited, including a decrease in coal mining employment from approximately 89,000 in 2011/12 to about 82,000 in 2017, and a drop in Eskom's coal consumption from 132.7 million tonnes in 2007/8 to 115.5 million tonnes in 2017/18.
• To align with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's target of limiting global temperature increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius, carbon dioxide emissions must be reduced by nearly 45% by 2030 and to almost zero by 2050.

APA

Centre for Environmental Rights (2019). LIFE AFTER COAL RESPONSE TO RECENT STATEMENTS AROUND “CLEAN COAL”. https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/CER-Letter-to-Minister-of-Energy-1-3-2019.pdf?x21779

Chicago

Centre for Environmental Rights. LIFE AFTER COAL RESPONSE TO RECENT STATEMENTS AROUND “CLEAN COAL”. 2019. https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/CER-Letter-to-Minister-of-Energy-1-3-2019.pdf?x21779.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=Centre for Environmental Rights |title=LIFE AFTER COAL RESPONSE TO RECENT STATEMENTS AROUND “CLEAN COAL” |date=1 March 2019 |url=https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/CER-Letter-to-Minister-of-Energy-1-3-2019.pdf?x21779 |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{centreforenvironmentalrights2019life, author = {{Centre for Environmental Rights}}, title = {{LIFE AFTER COAL RESPONSE TO RECENT STATEMENTS AROUND “CLEAN COAL”}}, publisher = {Centre for Environmental Rights}, year = {2019}, month = mar, url = {https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/CER-Letter-to-Minister-of-Energy-1-3-2019.pdf?x21779}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }