Public bank told to quit coal in global twitter storm

22 August 2013, TreeAlert

http://treealerts.org/region/europe/2013/08/public-bank-told-to-quit-coal-in-global-twitter-storm/

Campaigners from around the world are coming together today to call on the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) to end its support for coal. In a global day of action, the groups are generating a twitter storm, calling on supporters to sign petitions telling the EBRD to investment more in clean energy. There is growing pressure on public financial institutions to move away from fossil fuel funding due to the increasing risk of stranded high-carbon assets. Both the World Bank and the European Investment Bank (EIB) have already announced new restrictions on investment in fossil fuels, joining the growing number of private financial institutions who are moving out of dirty energy projects.Together with the EBRD, the World Bank and (EIB) collectively managed a $130 billion lending pot and nearly $37 billion in coal finance over the last five years. Recently, EU Climate Commissioner Connie Hedegaard added her voice to the call for financial institutions to end support for fossil fuels by urging the three banks to halt lending to dirty energy projects. With the recent announcements from both the World Bank and the EIB, attention has now turned to the EBRD.

The EBRD is one of the world’s largest development banks, and while the latest draft of its future energy strategy did touch on a clean energy transition, the public bank has failed to establish realistic and measurable policies to facilitate the shift away from dirty energy. Lending for fossil fuel projects—including dirty coal and fracking—as well as large-scale hydropower, is set to continue. Currently half of the EBRD’s $8.9 billion energy portfolio supports fossil fuels, which includes $1 billion in financing for coal. The bank recently drew up new guidelines that propose an emissions cap of 550 grams/kWh, meaning that the only new fossil fuel plants it can support will be natural gas. Campaigners are calling on the bank to show real commitment to quit risky high-carbon assets by extending their standards to refurbished plants, and releasing an official policy statement that restricts support for coal projects.

Top tweet

MT @350 Tell @EBRD: dev banks should fund progress not dirty coal. Join day of action for a #coalfreeEBRD! http://350.org/EBRD/

Actions

Hashtag to use: #coalfreeEBRD
Petition to sign: Divest EBRD from fossil fuels (350.org)
Petition to sign: Tell the EBRD: No more funding climate chaos (Oil Change International)
Petition to sign: Join the Twitter Storm (Sierra Club)
Image to share: Interactive image on EBRD’s fossil fuel funding

Coverage

European development bank’s coal funding under fire (RTCC)
All eyes on EBRD, will it go coal free? (Sierra Club)

Resources

Blog: Europe’s largest lenders take small steps away from fossil fuels (350.org)
Interactive Graph: Institutions funding of fossil fuels vs. clean energy
Website: Shift the subsidies
Website: Dirty Coal: The impacts of coal combustion (Sierra Club)
Website: The True Cost Of Coal Power (Skeptical Science)
Report: The Unpaid Health Bill: How Coal Power Plants Make Us Sick (HEAL)
Report: Full Cost Accounting for the Life Cycle of Coal (Harvard University)
Infographic: Animated Map of Global Coal Production, 1980-2010 (EIA)
Photos: Fossil fuel plants (1, 2, 3, 4)
Photos: Renewables (1, 2, 3, 4)

Related alerts

Worlds largest public financial institution halts lending to dirty coal
World Bank approves strict limitations on coal financing
Major fund divests from dirty fossils as clean investment movement surges on
Divestment fever goes transatlantic and reaches Brussels

More tweets

MT @PlatformLondon Tell @EBRD development banks should fund progress not coal. http://350.org/EBRD #coalfreeEBRD!

MT @Premanionov All eyes on @EBRD: Time to move #BeyondCoal http://350.org/EBRD #coalfreeEBRD

MT ‏@kaisakosonen 1st @WorldBank then @EIBtheEUbank, what next @EBRD? #thirdtimesthecharm http://bit.ly/1bFvDqN #coalfreeEBRD

RT @pandaclimate @EBRD Time to stop financing coal too, nearly 1 BN USD in past financing to coal #coalfreeEBRD #seizeyourpower

RT @mjjkeu Dear @EBRD please stop supporting #coal. My lungs would appreciate it. #coalfreeEBRD

RT @CANEurope Let’s stop the @EBRD investing in this…http://bit.ly/16MHxsF

MT @350 Tell @EBRD: dev banks should fund progress not dirty coal. Join day of action for a #coalfreeEBRD! http://350.org/EBRD/

RT @RobBaltzer Coal-free EBRD? Makes sense to me. Sign the petition to @EBRD: http://350.org/EBRD/ #CoalFreeEBRD

Tags: Carbon Bubble, EU, Finance, World Bank

Category: Alerts, Europe, North America