Photo: Klima schützen - Kohle stoppen! - Flickr.com/CC BY-NC

New NGO coalition wants to end coal in EU by 2030

In early November a wide coalition of environmental organisations launched a campaign to make Europe coal-free by 2030. The groups have issued a five-point policy plan for EU lawmakers and called on EU governments, cities, companies, banks and investors to cement their plans to move out of coal before the 2018 international climate meeting in Katowice, Poland. The five key points are:

  • Stop coal subsidies;
  • Fix the Emission Trading System;
  • Support the Just Transition;
  • Stop wasting energy and commit to 100% renewables; and,
  • Enforce and strengthen EU protections on air quality.

Since 2016, “Europe Beyond Coal” groups have helped retire 16 coal plants, and 39 more are to close, with the governments of the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Finland, France, Portugal and Italy all committing these countries to being coal-free by 2030 at the latest. The campaign is focussing its efforts on turning these government coal phase-out announcements into action, and hastening the closure of the EU’s 293 remaining plants.

Climate Action Network (CAN) Europe, ClientEarth, European Environmental Bureau, Greenpeace, and the Health and Environment Alliance (HEAL) are among 37 groups to have signed the “Europe Beyond Coal” manifesto.

Source: Europe Beyond Coal news release, 2 November 2017. https://beyond-coal.eu

NGO policy recommendations: http://eeb.org/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php?juwpfisadmin=false&action=wpfd&ta...

 

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