Search Climate Insights Directory

The document addresses the need for credible financing to accelerate the global transition from coal to clean energy, specifically focusing on coal transition mechanisms (CTMs). It highlights that while CTMs are essential because 93 percent of coal capacity is shielded from market pressures by regulation or contracts, they face significant reputational risks and constraints from private financial institution policies. To address this, the Climate Bonds Initiative (CBI), Climate Policy Initiative (CPI), and RMI have developed guidelines to ensure CTMs deliver positive climate and social outcomes, avoid moral hazard, and support a just transition for workers and communities.

Georgia electricity customers face high energy burdens, particularly low-income households and people of color, despite relatively low electricity rates. The document identifies several regulatory levers the Georgia Public Service Commission (PSC) could use to lower costs, including reducing Georgia Power's return on equity (ROE) to the national average, implementing fuel-sharing mechanisms to mitigate natural gas price volatility, and updating the Integrated Resource Plan to incorporate Inflation Reduction Act incentives. It also suggests securitization as a means to save customers $1.05 billion and recommends comprehensive transmission and distribution planning to avoid unnecessary capital-intensive spending.

The document criticizes ENGIE's coal phase-out strategy, claiming the company avoids genuine decarbonization by selling coal plants to third parties or converting them to fossil gas and solid biomass. It highlights specific asset sales in Europe, Brazil, and Morocco, and conversions in Chile, arguing these actions are not aligned with a 1.5°C trajectory and risk ecological damage.

Reclaim Finance criticizes ENGIE for its 'false' coal exit strategy, which involves selling coal plants to third parties or converting them to biomass and fossil gas. The document highlights specific cases in Germany, the Netherlands, Brazil, Morocco, and Chile, arguing that these actions avoid corporate responsibility for environmental damage and fail to align with a 1.5 °C warming trajectory.

The report analyzes European coal transitions, finding that while support measures limited poverty, they often failed to secure new employment for workers. Successes were linked to bottom-up project identification combined with top-down financing, investments in transport and education, and environmental restoration. It suggests China can achieve a more successful just transition by proactively planning based on these European experiences.

The LAC campaign urges South Africa to advocate for climate reparations and a non-fossil fuel development vision for Africa at COP27, while domestically accelerating the transition to renewable energy and phasing out coal by 2040.

The document establishes a framework for Coal Transition Mechanisms (CTMs) to ensure they deliver real emissions savings, align with 1.5°C goals, and support a just transition. It outlines eight specific guidelines across four 'stage gates': plant eligibility, transition pathways, social protection, and accountability. The framework is illustrated through a real-world case of ratepayer-backed bond securitization in the United States and hypothetical scenarios involving a sovereign sustainability-linked bond in Indonesia and a managed transition vehicle for an Independent Power Producer (IPP).

The report finds that none of the 40 indicators of systems change are on track to reach their 2030 targets, with current national commitments leading to projected warming of 2.4°C to 2.8°C. To align with the 1.5°C goal, the report argues for an enormous acceleration in effort, specifically noting that unabated coal phase-out must be six times faster and cement production carbon intensity improvements must increase by more than 10 times.

For the first time, wind and solar generated more of Chile's electricity than coal over a 12-month period (October 2021 to September 2022), with wind and solar accounting for 27.5% and coal 26.5%. Since 2016, wind and solar have met all growth in electricity demand, contributing to a 6% drop in annual power sector emissions between 2016 and 2021 despite an 11% increase in demand. Chile aims for 80% renewable electricity by 2030 and a zero-emissions grid by 2050, though the report notes that IEA guidelines suggest a coal phase-out by 2030 for OECD countries.

One year after COP26, progress on climate pledges is described as "mixed at best," with some advancements in renewable energy and net-zero targets countered by a resurgence in fossil fuel reliance due to the Russia-Ukraine war. While 24 countries updated their emissions targets and renewable capacity reached new heights, global fossil fuel subsidies nearly doubled in 2021. Financial commitments remain unmet, with developed nations still $17 billion short of the $100 billion annual goal for 2020. Efforts to curb methane and deforestation have seen expanded participation, but accountability for city-level net-zero pledges remains low due to a lack of reported emissions data.

Türkiye can reduce its reliance on imported fossil fuels for power generation from 50% in 2021 to less than 25% by 2030 by accelerating the deployment of solar and wind energy. Achieving this requires reaching 40 GW of solar and 30 GW of wind capacity by 2030, which would result in these sources providing 34-38% of total power generation. This transition is framed as a means to both achieve the 2053 net zero target and improve energy independence and trade balances.

The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) of 2022 provides significant tax credits and financing to lower the cost of clean electricity and facilitate the retirement of fossil fuel infrastructure. Independent modeling suggests the IRA could make 73% to 76% clean electricity the lowest-cost pathway for the U.S. by 2030, potentially reducing electricity sector GHG emissions by 67% to 78% from 2005 levels. However, the report argues that realizing these benefits requires proactive state-level policy, including updated procurement assumptions by Public Utility Commissions, increased clean electricity standards from legislators, and strategic coordination by governors to address transmission and supply-chain constraints.

ClientEarth asserts that the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) obstructs climate policy by allowing fossil fuel companies to sue governments for compensation over environmental regulations. The organization argues that recent 'modernisation' efforts are insufficient, as they maintain a 'flexibility mechanism' that would allow litigation until the late 2030s and include protections for biomass and carbon capture. The document calls for a coordinated withdrawal of the EU, its member states, and the UK to eliminate the 'chilling effect' of the treaty on the European Green Deal and other climate commitments.

The Life after Coal Campaign (LAC) and Fair Finance Southern Africa (FFSA) call for greater transparency and civil society inclusion in South Africa's Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP). They demand clarity on financial offers from the International Partners Group, the composition of JETP working groups, and the accessibility of the JETP Investment Plan. The coalitions argue that climate finance must prioritize 'justice elements'—including gender-responsive interventions and community-led projects—while strictly excluding funding for new coal, gas, or nuclear energy. They further emphasize the need for robust governance to track finance flows and ensure that the transition does not impose austerity on low-income users.

The document analyzes the role of major US banks in financing the global coal industry, highlighting a gap between their public climate pledges and their actual financial activities. It argues that weak corporate financing policies allow funds to continue flowing to coal developers despite net-zero commitments.

The Centre for Environmental Rights, representing the Life After Coal/Impilo Ngaphandle Kwamalahle Campaign, submitted comments on the Draft 8th National Greenhouse Gas Inventory Report (NGHGIR) on 31 August 2022. The submission argues that the draft significantly undercounts methane emissions due to the omission of fugitive emissions from the oil and gas industry, pipeline transport, and abandoned mines, and criticizes the use of outdated global warming potential (GWP) metrics and low emission factors for coal mining.

Reclaim Finance argues that net-zero commitments must be aligned with a 1.5°C temperature goal, requiring an immediate cessation of investment in new oil, coal, and gas projects. The submission emphasizes that at least 90% of reductions should be achieved by stopping emissions at the source, with carbon removals reserved only for residual emissions. It calls for absolute interim targets—specifically a 50% reduction in CO2 by 2030—and transparent transition plans that include meaningful sanctions for non-compliance. The document also warns against the use of fossil gas as a transition fuel and the practice of selling high-emitting assets to avoid decarbonization targets.

Reclaim Finance argues that the Powering Past Coal Alliance's (PPCA) current Finance Principles allow members to continue supporting coal expansion. The organization recommends updating the global phase-out deadline to 2040, removing the term "unabated" to ban all coal power, expanding the scope to include the entire coal value chain (including mining), banning general financial services to companies planning coal expansion, and implementing a sanction mechanism to exclude non-complying members.

The Centre for Environmental Rights (CER) argues that South Africa's 2021 NDC update is insufficient to meet the 1.5°C global warming limit and fails to reflect the country's 'fair share' of global mitigation efforts. The CER highlights that the use of an emissions range allows for a higher upper limit that is inconsistent with safe climate pathways, potentially leading to domestic temperature increases of 4 to 6°C. The document requests the government clarify if it will revisit its 2030 targets as requested by the Glasgow Climate Pact and asks for details on the mechanisms used to monitor and track greenhouse gas emission reductions.

The Life After Coal campaign expresses support for rolling out renewable energy and battery storage from the 2019 IRP but strongly opposes the use of the energy crisis to introduce gas into the electricity mix. The campaign argues that gas is not a transitional fuel and poses risks of stranded assets and higher costs for consumers. It further criticises the potential for privatising new generation and the lack of specific support for rooftop solar for poor South Africans whose housing may not support such installations. The document also warns that Eskom's repurposing plans favour expensive gas turbines over low-cost solar power.