Coal Phase Out

62 NGOs, including WWF and CAN Europe, have sent a letter to MEPs of the REGI committee calling for the exclusion of fossil fuels from the Just Transition Fund, ahead of a vote on 6 July.

▶️ One Balkan country clocks its first coal-free days,
▶️ Another is rushing in the opposite direction, reviving shelved projects for a new coal plant.
▶️ 2-speed energy transition in the Western Balkans,
▶️ but delaying just transition beyond coal costs more. 

Read the latest news and stories from the region's journey beyond coal.

More than 20 NGOs including East Mediterranean Platform of Environment Associations, the Chamber of Doctors in Adana, Chamber of Agricultural Engineers in Adana, 350.org, Climate Action Network Europe (CAN Europe), Ekosfer, Greenpeace Mediterranean, Health and Environment Alliance (HEAL), and Yuva Association called Chinese banks to withdraw their financial support to the Hunutlu coal-fired power plant that is being constructed in the Yumurtalik District of Adana, Turkey.

Poland's largest oil refiner, PKN Orlen, declared its preliminary readiness for direct financial involvement in the construction of the 1GW Ostroleka-C coal power project only if it is converted into a gas unit⁽¹⁾. The announcement by PKN Orlen, which only last month acquired EnergaSa - one of the companies behind the Ostroleka C projecr⁽²⁾, means that Poland's troubled new coal project will not come to life. However, smart money is on renewables, not fossil gas.

The EU accession process with the Western Balkans requires more climate action now!

Austria has shut down its last coal-fired plant in Mellach (Styria) thereby ending its energy generation from coal. This makes Austria the eighth coal-free EU member state.

Global Coal Plant Tracker’a (Küresel Kömür Santrali Takipçisi-GCPT) göre 2019 yılı, kömüre dayalı elektrik üretimine dair tüm belli başlı büyüme göstergelerinde büyük düşüş görülen ardı ardına dördüncü yıl olarak kayda geçti. 

ContourGlobal, a power generator, has announced today that it has abandoned its plans to construct a 500-megawatt coal-fired power plant in Kosovo. It’s the third such project in the region to be canceled in the last six months.

Montenegro has introduced own cap and trade system for its major CO2 emitters ^₍₁₎, thereby signaling the beginning of the end to free emissions in countries of the Western Balkans - region that’s home to some of Europe’s most polluting coal-fired power plants ^₍₂₎. Nevertheless, to succeed, the Montenegrin scheme will need a tighter cap.

The North Macedonian government has approved a national energy strategy [1] that makes it the first country in the Western Balkans to consider a coal phase-out before 2030.

Yesterday evening the Polish utility companies Energa SA (Energa) and Enea S.A. (Enea) behind the project to build what has been called Poland’s “last (new) coal-fired power plant”, the 1GW Ostroleka C, decided to suspend financing of the project in recognition of changes that have all but evaporated its feasibility through the shedding of coal and coal finance from European Union’s future of climate neutrality and renewable energy (1). 

A just transition means delivering the socio-economic transformation required to address climate change, whilst reducing inequalities in the most affected regions and ensuring the costs and benefits of the transition are spread fairly.

Brussels, we have a problem! 

Plans by Bosnia and Herzegovina to push forward with ill-conceived Tuzla 7 coal-fired thermal power plant project received a surprising boost this week with the announcement of financing for the project being made available by banking consortium led by Slovenia’s NLB Bank (1).

With the current level of the climate crisis, a global transition to a low-carbon economy is an urgent necessity, rather than an option. According to the IPCC 1.5°C special report (SR15), rapid action is needed to limit the global temperature rise to 1.5°C in line with the Paris Agreement. This will require key changes in energy supply and demand to be effected in a just manner. Learn how.

Yesterday the Secretariat of the Energy Community, the international treaty integrating the energy markets of the EU and its neighbours, published its Annual Implementation Report. The report shows that none of the Energy Community member states which have coal in their energy mix are in compliance with the emission ceilings established under their National Emission Reduction Plans

The hearings of Commissioner candidates in front of the European Parliament from 30 September to 8 October will test the climate credentials of the new Commission.

Media briefing on the Commissioner candidates’ tasks and views on climate

The hearings of Commissioner candidates in front of the European Parliament from 30 September to 8 October will test the climate credentials of the new Commission.