Frustrated leaders appeal to ‘all OECD countries’ to phase out use as Australia signals support for new plantsPacific countries vulnerable to climate change have urged Australia to abandon coal power generation within 12 years, and to prohibit new coal plants or expansion of existing plants. As the COP24 UN climate talks in Poland remained stalled over an unwillingness from major emitters to commit to further carbon emissions cuts, frustrated Pacific states, traditional allies of Australia, said the world must abandon coal-powered energy generation. Photograph: Czarek Sokołowski/APBill Hare, director of climate analytics and former Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report lead author, said the Pacific states were right to be concerned about coal. I hope Australians will listen, even if their government won’t.”The Pacific island states also called for the establishment of an international protection regime to protect people displaced by climate change. But its perceived political intransigence on climate, particular its commitment to maintaining, and even expanding, coal power generation, is alienating it from Pacific neighbours – historic allies, many of which are low-lying atoll nations experiencing the effects of climate change most acutely.

Source: The Guardian December 13, 2018 23:06 UTC