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 Speaking at a coal summit on the sidelines of a U.N. climate
conference in Warsaw, Christiana Figueres said the coal industry
needs to change radically to help reduce the carbon emissions that
scientists say are warming the planet.
"The world is rising to meet the climate challenge as risks of
inaction mount, and it is in your best interest to make coal part of
the solution," Figueres said.
The coal event was seen as a provocation by climate activists, who
used a crane to reach the ministry's roof, where they unfurled
banners criticizing Poland's — and the world's — reliance on coal
and other fossil fuels. Police used another crane to take them down,
as panelists at the coal summit said that the people in the room,
not the people on the roof, have the possibility to change the coal
industry.
Coal industry officials at the event didn't directly address her
remarks but said the world cannot do without coal because in many
countries it's the only available energy source.
"A major aim of the summit has been to encourage open and
constructive dialogue on the climate challenge — we're not going to
meet our climate objectives if we are not all part of the solution,"
the World Coal Association, which organized the event, said in a
statement.
Polish Economy Minister Janusz Piechocinski, whose country generates
about 90 percent of its electricity from coal, said: "You cannot
have a low-emissions energy transformation without talking about
coal."
Coal accounts for less than 30 percent of the world's energy supply
but more than 40 percent of energy emissions, according to the
International Energy Agency.
Figueres, who was criticized by some climate activists for attending
the conference, noted coal's role in economic development since the
industrial revolution but said it's come at "an unacceptably high
cost to human and environmental health."
She said aging, high-polluting coal plants must be closed and new
plants should implement technologies that allow for emissions to be
trapped before they are released into the atmosphere. Such
technologies are expensive and currently not widely used.
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To bring down CO2 emissions to levels that would avoid dangerous
levels of warming, most of the existing coal reserves must be left
in the ground, Figueres said.
"Some major oil, gas and energy technology companies are already
investing in renewables, and I urge those of you who have not yet
started to join them," Figueres said.
Back at the U.N. conference later Monday, she told reporters she
didn't expect any major shift in the industry's deployment of
capital anytime soon.
"They really need to do a major, major rethink," Figueres said. "So
I don't expect them to stand up immediately and go, 'We are ready
for the challenge right now,' but I do expect them to take the
message very seriously."
That message was echoed by U.S. climate envoy Todd Stern.
"The world runs significantly on fossil fuels right now and that's
not going to change overnight," he said. "But at the same time if
we're going to get a grip on climate change ... the balance of
energy in countries all over the world is going to have to tilt much
more toward non-fossil sources."
Coal emissions have declined in the U.S. as some power plants have
switched to lower-priced natural gas. But they are growing fast in
China and India to meet the energy needs of their fast-growing
economies.
Coal industry officials say significant emissions reductions can be
achieved by improving the efficiency of coal-fired plants. But in
the long term analysts say expensive carbon-capture technologies
need to be implemented to make the deep cuts required to slow
climate change.
[Associated
Press; MONIKA SCISLOWSKA]
Associated Press writer
Karl Ritter contributed to this report.
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