{"id":9161,"date":"2021-02-26T12:10:42","date_gmt":"2021-02-26T11:10:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/reclaimfinance.org\/site\/?p=9161"},"modified":"2023-02-28T17:48:06","modified_gmt":"2023-02-28T16:48:06","slug":"engies-coal-exit-announcement-not-all-its-cracked-up-to-be","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/reclaimfinance.org\/site\/en\/2021\/02\/26\/engies-coal-exit-announcement-not-all-its-cracked-up-to-be\/","title":{"rendered":"Engie\u2019s coal exit announcement \u2013 not all it\u2019s cracked up to be"},"content":{"rendered":"

Press Release – Reclaim Finance and Friends of the Earth France<\/b><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Paris, 26<\/span><\/span>th<\/span><\/span> F<\/span><\/span>ebruary<\/span><\/span> 2021 \u2013 presenting its financial results for 2020, Engie today <\/span><\/span>committed to give up its coal assets in Europe by 2025, and in the re<\/span><\/span>st of the world by 2027 (1)<\/span><\/span>. Reclaim Finance<\/span><\/span> and Friends of the Earth France have condemned a <\/span><\/span>\u201c<\/span><\/span>no<\/span><\/span>n-announcement<\/span><\/span>\u201d<\/span><\/span>, <\/span><\/span>which <\/span><\/span>\u201c<\/span><\/span>carefully avoids responding to the real question of the future of the French energy giant\u2019s assets<\/span><\/span>\u201d<\/span><\/span>. The <\/span><\/span>NGOs call on Engie to explicitly commit to closing its coal power plants<\/span><\/span> and to a just transition for all its workers throughout the world, and <\/span><\/span>not to sell or convert its assets to other energy sources which are deadly for the climate<\/span><\/span><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

Engie is still today operating 10 coal plants spread out between Portugal, Morocco, Chile, Brazil and Peru, constituting a total of 4GW. Climate science is <\/span>unanimous on the need to plan for the closure of all existing coal assets and to decarbonize the energy sector in the shortest time possible. If the coal exit dates announced by Engie are in line with the science, it spells bad news for the climate.<\/span><\/p>\n

In fact, even if some assets might be closed, Engie is also planning on the sale and above all the conversion of its assets. In an interview on <\/span>FranceInter<\/span> last December, Claire <\/span>Waysand<\/span>, interim director-general and general secretary of Engie group, mentioned two conversion options: biomass or<\/span> gas (2), and not renewable energies like solar which could provide a <\/span>solution<\/span> for plants in Chile and Brazil. <\/span><\/p>\n

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\u201c<\/span><\/span>In c<\/span><\/span>onverting <\/span><\/span>its <\/span><\/span>coal power plants into gas or biomass<\/span><\/span>, Engie is sending us<\/span><\/span> out of the frying pan and into the fire.<\/span><\/span> Biomass has an even worse impact on the climate than <\/span><\/span>coal, and<\/span><\/span> cutting down forests isn\u2019t a bright idea when biodiversity is disappearing at an unprecedented rate. As for gas, it should be remembered that it is still a <\/span><\/span>fossil fuel <\/span><\/span>and th<\/span><\/span>at for plants in Chile and Brazil this could mean importing fracked gas from the US or Argentina. Engie\u2019s shareholders must react without delay to prevent the company from sinking ever deeper into false solutions and thereby exposing them to <\/span><\/span>stranded<\/span><\/span> assets<\/span><\/span>,\u201d <\/span><\/span>comment<\/span><\/span>s Lucie Pinson, founder and director of Reclaim Finance.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Engie has already made clear that it wishes to convert its inactive coal plant in Italy into gas. This underlines the fact that Engie might well choose to convert<\/span> its plant in Portugal into gas, even as the European Union boasts of its exemplary climate credentials.<\/span><\/p>\n

Engie has also suggested that it could sell some plants. While this might allow it to decarbonize its portfolio, this wouldn\u2019t entail actual CO2e emission reductions in the real world. <\/span>Engie has already sold 14 coal plants representing 54% of its capacity (11,356 MW) since COP21.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Lorette Philippot, campaigner at Friends of the Earth France, adds<\/span><\/span>:<\/span> \u201cBehind the gloss of this announcement, Engie is barely bothering to hide the lack of ambition in its coal exit strategy. After flogging off its fleet of coal plants in <\/span><\/span>Asia and Europe<\/span><\/span>, it has let it be known that it might do the same for its 10 remaining plants. But this false solution would be a veritable disavowal of its social and environmental responsibility: it would leave the face of th<\/span><\/span>ese ultra-polluting assets, as well as the employees of these sites, in the hands of unethical companies intent on gambling on<\/span><\/span> coal in 2021.\u201d<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Finally, Engie speaks of carbon neutrality in its strategy, but to reach carbon neutrality by 2050 an alignment with 1.5<\/span><\/span>\u00b0C is necessary. Engie\u2019s strategy, however,<\/span><\/span> currently involves a 2\u00b0C objective certified by the SBTi, which is blatantly insufficient to reach carbon neutrality (3).<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>

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Press contacts<\/span><\/span>:<\/u><\/b><\/p>\n