The number of thermal coal plants continues to grow despite the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement and countless United Nations, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), and International Energy Agency (IEA) reports on how these plants are incompatible with limiting global warming to 1.5\u00baC above pre-industrial levels. <\/b><\/span>Since the signing of the Paris Agreement, the World\u2019s coal power generation capacity grew by 135 GW\u2014an amount equal to the combined coal power production of Germany, Japan and Russia.<\/span><\/p>\nHowever, the implications of the UN Paris Climate Agreement for the coal sector are clear. To achieve the agreement\u2019s goal of limiting \u201cthe global average temperature to well below 2\u00b0C above pre-industrial levels and to continue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5\u00b0C\u201d, we must stop our increasing coal-fired power generation capacity and phase out existing production within the next few years.<\/b><\/p>\n
In 2015, Christiana Figueres, then head of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), warned: \u201cThere is no room for new coal\u201d. And in 2015, OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurria called new coal-fired power plants \u201cthe most urgent threat to our climate\u201d. Just last year, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on decision-makers to make 2020 the year in which the expansion of the coal industry would come to a halt.<\/p>\n
Financial institutions have begun to heed these warnings. More than 40 banks and insurers have now ceased direct support for new coal projects.<\/p>\n
Financial institutions must not provide or renew any type of support for new coal-fired power plants, mines, and other associated infrastructure worldwide \u2013 including project finance and additional specialised financial support such as advisory mandates, insurance underwriting and direct investments.<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>
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<\/span>Exclude companies developing new coal projects<\/div><\/h1>
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Any new carbon-based power generation infrastructure such as thermal coal plants is incompatible with the 1.5\u00b0C target. The majority of coal reserves, including those already in operation, must remain in the ground to limit warming below the 2\u00b0C threshold. As a result, a growing number of financial institutions are increasingly excluding companies with plans to expand the coal sector from accessing financial services. By deliberately pursuing projects that fundamentally undermine the agreement\u2019s climate objectives, companies are demonstrating an apparent lack of willingness to align their activities with the Paris Agreement\u2019s scientific goals.<\/p>\n
Financial institutions must cease all financial services to any company developing or planning to expand their activities in the thermal coal sector (mining, electricity, infrastructure, and services). Expansion means constructing of new projects or the purchasing existing infrastructures without committing to close them by pre-established dates\u20142030 in EU and OECD countries and 2040 worldwide at the latest. Companies that extend the lifespan of existing coal-fired power plants following their modernisation or selling services and equipment supporting the expansion of the sector should also be excluded.<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>
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<\/span>Exclude companies with high exposure to coal<\/div><\/h1>
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Excluding companies with more than a certain percentage of their operations in the coal sector is one of the most common methods used by financial institutions to filter out companies. This method allows institutions to exclude companies considered as risky because of their high dependence on coal and was used by investors before being adopted by banks and insurers.<\/b><\/p>\n
Percentage exposure is calculated based on the share of coal in revenues, electricity generated, or installed coal-fired power generation capacity. The best metrics to reflect a company\u2019s climate impact is to measure the share of coal in its electricity generation for electricity producers, and the share of coal in a company\u2019s revenues for all other companies, whether in mining or service provision.<\/p>\n
Initially, most financial institutions applied a high exclusion threshold, generally set at 50%. This threshold has been lowered steadily. While the most widely used threshold on the international stage is 30% of revenues and\/or electricity generation from coal, there has been an accelerating downward trend with many institutions adopting a 10% or 20% threshold in recent months.<\/p>\n
Financial institutions must exclud<\/span>e companies that generate more than 20% of their electricity production from coal and commit to lowering their exclusion thresholds to zero to support an exit from coal by 2030 in OECD and European countries, and by 2040 at the latest elsewhere.<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>
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<\/span>Exclude the biggest coal companies<\/div><\/h1>
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Adopting an exclusion threshold based on the relative share of coal in a company\u2019s activities does not consider the real impact on climate and health, nor the company\u2019s ability to withdraw from coal in time to achieve Paris Agreement goals.<\/b><\/p>\n
Indeed, some companies do not reach relative exclusion thresholds, whether 20% or higher, even though the size of their coal activities makes them significant coal producers and thermal coal plant operators. For this reason, the Global Coal Exit List identifies companies producing more than 20 Mt of coal a year or having a coal power generation capacity over 10 GW. These thresholds will be cut down to 10Mt and 5 GW in fall 2020.Some financial institutions are ahead of the curb and have already adopted them.<\/p>\n
With an annual coal production of more than 73 million tons in 2018, China\u2019s Jinneng Group Co Ltd exceeds the 20 Mt threshold despite deriving less than 30% of its revenue from coal. This is also the case for EPH, BHP Billiton Group, Anglo American PLC, and South32 Ltd, known for their purchases of assets from Rio Tinto and other mining companies.<\/p>\n
Absolute criteria are also useful in cases where the share of coal in electricity generation or the share of coal in revenues is not readily calculable\/estimable (e.g. the Adani Group in India). Those criteria are also useful facing fluctuating coal prices or coal power generation. The share of coal in revenues can be much lower than the percentage of coal in power generation, which furthers highlight the benefits of absolute thresholds.<\/p>\n
Financial institutions must exclude companies that produce more than 10 Mt of coal per year or have more than 5 GW of coal capacity and commit to lowering these thresholds to zero to support an exit from coal by 2030 in EU and OECD countries, and by 2040 worldwide at the latest.<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>
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<\/span>Adopt a robust exit strategy to support the closure of existing coal assets<\/div><\/h1>
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