Global Briefing: German coalition partners back 2030 coal exit
Reports suggest Germany could soon accelerate coal power plant phase out plans, as a flurry of national climate action plans are unveiled ahead of COP26 Summit and Russian President Vladimir Putin announces Russia will achieve carbon neutrality by 2060
German coalition partners pledge to ‘ideally’ end use of coal power by 2030
The new German government could pull forward the country’s target date for ending the use of unabated coal power by eight years to 2030, according to reports today.
In what could represent a major boost for the upcoming COP26 Climate Summit, the three parties leading negotiations to form Germany’s new coalition agreement signalled they had reached an agreement that could see the country rapidly accelerate its decarbonisation efforts.
The Social Democrats, the Greens and the Free Democrats published the results of preliminary talks confirming that “in order to meet climate goals, an accelerated exit from coal power is required”.
“Ideally, this will be achieved by 2030,” it added.
The statement represents a major victory for the Green Party, which had made the 2030 coal exit target a key plank of its campaign. However, the wording of the text could leave room for a watering down of the target as formal coalition talks get underway.
The paper also backed plans to ramp up renewables deployment across the country, including through reforms to designate two per cent of Germany’s land as suitable for wind power and new rules to require commercial buildings to install solar panels.
“We see it as our central common task to set Germany on a path to 1.5 degrees as mandated in the Paris climate treaty,” the statement reads.
Putin plots carbon neutral pathway for Russia
Russian President Vladimir Putin has confirmed that Russia, one of the world’s biggest producers and exports of oil and gas, is now aiming to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060, according to reports earlier this week.
Putin told an energy conference in Moscow on Wednesday the country would strive for carbon neutrality across its economy by “no later than 2060”.
“The planet needs informed, responsible actions by all market participants – both producers and consumers – focused on the long-term, in the interests of the sustainable development of all our countries,” Putin said. “Russia is ready for such constructive and close cooperation.”
The comments just a week after Reuters reported it had seen an environmental strategy being drawn up by the Russian government which would commit the country to slashing its greenhouse gas emissions by 79 per cent of 2050.
EU Commission calls for a ban on Arctic drilling
The European Union has announced it wants to ban exploration of new oil, coal, and gas deposits in the Arctic in a bid to protect one of the regions of the globe most vulnerable to climate change.
The bloc’s new Arctic Strategy, published on Wednesday, includes a proposal that it work towards “a multilateral legal obligation not to allow further hydrocarbon reserve development in the Arctic of contiguous regions, not to purchase such hydrocarbons if they were to be produced”.
The strategy also sets out the EU’s intention to bolster its influence in the resource-rich region, confirming its plans to establish a European Commission office in Nuuk, Greenland.
As the permafrost in the Arctic region melts, a race is heating up between international players scrambling to extract minerals previously trapped under the ice and explore new shipping routes.
Canada, Russia, and Denmark have all submitted overlapping territorial claims to the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS) and the EU this week reiterated its desire for official observer status at the Arctic Council, the regional body that brings together countries with territories in the region.
‘France 2030’: Macron unveils ‘reindustrialisation’ roadmap
French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday unveiled plans to invest €30bn on “reindustrialising” France in the wake of the pandemic, laying out plans to invest in green hydrogen technologies, a wave of small nuclear power reactors and other technologies that could advance the country’s energy transition.
Macron, who is expected to seek re-election next Spring after his first term comes to an end, said the construction of small nuclear reactors with efficient waste management systems were his “goal number one”, adding that he would earmark €1bn in support of the agenda.
“Why put this first? Because the number one issue is the production of energy,” he said. “When it comes to producing energy from electricity, we have a historical model: Nuclear … It is what puts us among the countries in Europe that emit the least CO2 from their electricity.”
Macron said €8bn of the ‘France 2030’ vision would be devoted to the energy transition, of which €2bn would go towards ramping up France’s renewable hydrogen capacity, in a bid to make France the “leader of green hydrogen in 2030”.
Meanwhile the President also earmarked €4bn for zero and low carbon cars and planes, noting that the two sectors were at the “heart of France’s industrial imagination”. He predicted that France would be able to produce two million electric and hybrid cars by 2030 and build a low carbon plane by the same date.
Flurry of countries submit climate plans as official window for enhanced NDCs closes
With the COP26 Climate Summit just weeks away, a string of countries have submitted 11th hour enhanced climate plans, known as Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) in the UN jargon, setting out renewed efforts to tackle climate change.
The deadline for countries to put forward enhanced NDCs was Tuesday of this week, however the UN’s register highlights that Iraq, Ghana, and Nauru have all submitted plans since the submission closed.
On Twitter this week, COP26 President Alok Sharma applauded Palestine, Tunisia, Kyrgyzstan, Cameroon, Burkina Faso, Burundi, and Mauritius for submitting new emissions reduction strategies just ahead of the deadline.
Meanwhile, UNFCC executive secretary Patricia Espinosa thanked Mali, Kuwait, Guinea Bissau, Albania, Jordan, and Tajikistan for their updated NDCs.
A number of major polluters, most notably China and Saudi Arabia, are yet to submit updated climate targets, whereas others, such as Australia and Brazil, have submitted plans that do not include enhanced targets.
