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Africa Moyo-Deputy News Editor
The announcement by some European countries that they will be reactivating their coal plants to generate electricity, creates a level negotiating field on important outstanding issues such as the financing of mitigation and adaptation programmes and on the phasing down of coal.
This was said yesterday by Environment, Climate, Tourism and Hospitality Industry Minister, Mangaliso Ndlovu, in an interview.
Europe is battling gas supply challenges occasioned by the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
While the United States and Europe have imposed sanctions on Russia after it launched a special military operation in Ukraine on February 24, Moscow supplies around 40 percent of the Europe’s natural gas requirements, together with over 25 percent of the countries’ oil needs.
Russia has since demanded that any country wanting oil and gas supplies should pay for the products using its currency, the Rouble, and not in US dollars, prompting some European countries to view that as “punishment” and opting to turn to alternative energy sources including coal.
But the turn to coal is being seen as “hypocrisy” and/ or a “reversal” of the climate goals agreements made in the past, including at last year’s United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) held in Glasgow, Scotland.
The COP26 outcome document, known as the Glasgow Climate Pact, called on the 197 countries that participated, among others, to “phase down” coal use while wealthy countries promised to mobilise climate finance “from all sources to reach the level needed to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement, including significantly increasing support for developing country parties, beyond US$100 billion per year”.
However, Germany, France and Italy, who had committed to ending support for overseas fossil fuel projects, recently indicated that investment in the sector was necessary as an interim response to the obtaining energy challenges in Europe.
Minister Ndlovu said “of course this is reversing those (climate) gains”, adding that the development vindicated the developing world which has said it wanted to migrate from fossil fuels to clean energies, but “without exerting pain to our people and without slowing down our economies”.
“Up until this (Russia-Ukraine) conflict, it looked as though our position reflected some lack of appreciation of the ‘crisis of our time’ but we have seen how, when their (European) economies were threatened, they abandoned their moral high ground and have moved to protect their economies,” he said.
“It (the development) creates a level negotiating ground on the key outstanding issues which include the financing of mitigation and adaptation programmes, financing the impact of the response measures and on the phasing down (not out) of coal.”
President Mnangagwa, who attended COP26, told Zanu PF supporters on arrival from Glasgow that leaders had met to discuss the impact of climate change in the world.
“You see all the cyclones (including Cyclone Idai in 2019), droughts and other issues, they are a result of climate change,” he said.
The President added that they discussed the causes of climate change and the developing world including Asia, Africa and Latin America, concurred that developed countries such as France, the United States, German and others, were responsible for polluting the environment, which is now impacting on largely poor countries whose contribution has been largely minimal.
Developing countries, said President Mnangagwa, had refused to immediately halt the use of fossil fuels in the absence of viable alternatives as the move would hurt economies.
Developed nations then pledged to financially support developing countries to broaden their energy mix, with particular attention on renewable energy such as solar, which does not harm the environment compared to thermal electricity.
Germany had planned to phase out coal by 2030, but its latest move, described by senior officials as a “painful but necessary” short-term crisis management tool, threatens to scupper the target.
Netherlands, Austria, the Czech Republic and Greece have all announced measures to temporarily get energy from coal.
Nations are expected to report their progress towards tackling climate change at COP27 scheduled for Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, in November this year.
Online Reporter