Civil Society Statement Calling on the ADB to End Support for Coal
Signed by 72 organisations from 19 countries on the occasion of the 2014 Asia Clean Energy Forum
The Asian Development Bank has been a major funder of coal-fired power plants globally. Between 1994 and 2012, the institution was the third largest public international financier of coal-fired power plants, investing $3.9 billion in 21 projects.[1] Over the past six years, the institution invested $1.69 billion in five coal plants, including $900 million in the Jamshoro plant in Pakistan and $450 million in the controversial Tata Mundra Ultra Mega Coal plant in the Indian state of Gujarat.[2] The ADB’s continued support for coal is out of step with its stated intention of rapidly increasing investment in clean energy, and with international norms.
Public international financial institutions are increasingly moving away from supporting coal and towards providing crucial investment in clean energy and energy efficiency. In 2013, the World Bank, the European Investment Bank and European Bank for Reconstruction and Development all adopted policies restricting financing for coal plants. This followed an announcement from the Obama Administration that they would work to end US support for coal plants overseas, including at the multilateral development banks. The UK, Nordic countries and the Netherlands have made similar commitments to end support for coal plants overseas.
The science and the need to phase out public support for coal is clear. In September 2013, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) – the most authoritative global scientific body on climate change – released its Working Group I Fifth Assessment Report, providing undeniable facts on the human causes of climate change and making the fight against climate change more pressing than ever.
We simply cannot afford to continue to burn fossil fuels at the rate we have been: according to the International Energy Agency (IEA), more than two thirds of proven fossil fuel reserves need to stay underground and of that the major portion is coal.[3] In addition, the IEA has stated that to have a 50% chance of staying within a 2°C global temperature rise, only zero-carbon utilities and infrastructure should be developed beyond 2017 since 80% of cumulative emissions allowable between 2010 and 2035 are already locked-into existing power plants, factories, buildings and services.[4]
The impacts of increasingly frequent and more extreme weather events is already being felt in social and financial terms: Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines devastated the lives of millions of people and caused economic losses in the billions of dollars; losses caused to the US economy by 2012’s Hurricane Sandy is estimated at US$65bn; the Midwestern/Plains droughts of the same year caused losses of US$35bn; and the 2014 extreme winter floods in the UK are estimated to have cost British insurers $US 2bn.
We cannot afford to ignore these risks and costs anymore. What climate science requires in term of public finance for energy is very clear: it must urgently be shifted from fossil fuels to renewable energy and energy efficiency. In addition to mitigating climate change, huge co-benefits will materialise, including health benefits from cleaner air[5]; millions of green jobs from clean energy[6]; and improved energy independence.
Coal is the most carbon intensive fossil fuel, accounting for about 72% of electricity-related CO2 emissions[7]. It also has significant public health impacts. Studies done for China, India, EU and the U.S. alone indicate that air pollution emissions from coal-fired power plants are responsible for over 400,000 premature deaths per year globally and millions more affected from serious and minor illnesses.
Consequently, we, the undersigned 71 NGOs from 19 countries, call on the Asian Development Bank to immediately rule out any future support for coal projects. Scarce public resources should not be directed to an outdated technology that will only harm human health and the planet’s climate. As a stated leader in promoting clean energy in the Asia Pacific region, and on this occasion of the 9th Asia Clean Energy Forum, we call on the Asian Development Bank to make a clear commitment to end support for all fossil fuel developments, from extraction, processing, transport to infrastructure and power stations, and in particular and most urgently coal. Our climate and the future of our planet deserve no less than this.
International
Aaron Packard, 350.org
Sanjiv Gopal, Greenpeace International
Ioana Ciuta, CEE Bankwatch Network
Joseph Purugganan, Focus on the Global South
Australia
Aviva Imhof, The Sunrise Project
Dr. David Shearman, Doctors for the Environment
John L Hayes, Correct Planning and Consultation for Mayfield Group
Alan Roberts, Nimbin Environment Centre
Paola Cassoni, Bimblebox Nature Reserve
Rod Campbell, Economists at Large
Belgium
Kris Vanslamboruck, 11.11.11
Xavier Sol, Counter Balance
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Miodrag Dakic, Centre for Environment
Cambodia
Eang Vuthy, Equitable Cambodia
France
Lucie Pinson, Friends of the Earth France
Germany
Regine Richter, urgewald
India
Gautam Bandyopadhyay, Nadi Ghati Morcha
Soumya Dutta, Beyond Copenhagen Collective / Bharat Jan Vigyan Jatha
Jesu Rethinam, Coastal Action Network
Nityanand Jayaraman, Chennai Solidarity Group
Babu Rao Kalapala, National Alliance of Peoples Movements
Debi Goenka, Conservation Action Trust
Probir Banerjee, PondyCAN
R.Sreedhar, Environics Trust
Ramesh Agrawal, Jan Chetana
Shweta Narayan, Community Environmental Monitoring, The Other Media
Chaitanya Kumar, 350.org India
Alok Shukla, Janabhivyakti
Ranjan Panda, Water Initiatives Odisha
Ravindranath, River Basin Friends
Madhuresh Kumar, National Alliance of Peoples Movements (NAPM)
Lakshmi Premkumar, Programme for Social Action
Kishor Rithe, Satpuda Foundation
Tara Murali, Citizen Consumer & Civic Action Group (CAG)
Sudhir Paliwal, Vidarbha Environmental Action Group
Dharmesh Shah, Earth Watch Trust
Ravi Rebbapragada, Samata / Mines, Minerals and People
Dr Ashok Kundapur, International Alternate Energy Trust
Indonesia
Pius Ginting, WALHI
Hendrik Siregar, JATAM
Japan
Yuki Tanabe, JACSES
Kimiko Hirata, Kiko Network
Hozue HATAE, Friends of the Earth Japan
Mongolia
Urantsooj Gombosuren, Center for Human Rights and Development
Myanmar
Wunna Htun, Action Aid Myanmar
The Netherlands
Pieter Jansen, Both ENDS
Pakistan
Sarah Siddiqi, CREED Alliance
M Ali Shah, Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum
Philippines
Rayyan Hassan, NGO Forum on ADB
Ronnel Lim, Partners for Human Progress and Social Development
Josua Mata, SENTRO
Chadwick Go Llanos, Cebu Alliance for Safe and Sustainable Environment
Fr. Max Abalos, SVD, Action for Nurturing Children & Environment, Inc.
Tina Ebro, AEPF
Pamela Torres, United Sibonga Residents’ for Environmental Protection and Development
Atty. Aaron Pedrosa, SANLAKAS
Clemente G. Bautista Jr. Kalikasan PNE
Rovik Obanil, Freedom from Debt Coalition
South Korea
Jee-eun Jun, Korea NGO Council for Overseas Development Cooperation
Thailand
Witoon Permpongsacharoen, Mekong Energy and Ecology Network (MEE Net)
United Kingdom
Sean Kidney, Climate Bonds Initiative
United States
Stephen Kretzmann, Oil Change International
Amanda Starbuck, Rainforest Action Network
Payal Sampat, Earthworks
Justin Guay, Sierra Club
Karen Orenstein, Friends of the Earth US
Vietnam
Nguy Thi Khanh, GreenID
Ha Thi Quynh Nga, CARE International in Vietnam
Hong Hoang, CHANGE
Do Van Nguyet, Live&Learn
[1] World Resources Institution, Global Coal Risk Assessment, November 2012, p.19
[2] Information obtained from www.shiftthesubsidies.org
[3] IEA World Energy Outlook 2012
[4] IEA World Energy Outlook 2011
[5] World Health Organisation new estimates show that in 2012 around 7 million people died – 1 in 8 of total global deaths – as a result of air pollution exposure. This finding more than doubles previous estimates and confirms that air pollution is the world’s largest single environmental health risk. Much of the burden results from burning of fossil fuels, mainly coal. See http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2014/air-pollution/en/
[6] The renewable industry already employs 5.7 million people globally and the figure is booming. Renewables create 1,9-3,2 times more jobs per million of US$ invested, and 1.5-7.9 times more jobs per unit of electricity produced (GWh). Sources REN21 and Pollin, Heintz and Garret-Peltier, The Economic Benefits of Investing in Clean Energy.
[7] Foster, Vivien; Bedrosyan, Daron. 2014. Understanding CO2 emissions from the global energy sector. Live wire knowledge note series; no. 5. Washington DC ; World Bank Group. http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2014/02/19120885/understanding-co2-emissions-global-energy-sector