The Warsaw Communiqué includes a three-step call to action: the immediate use of high-efficiency low-emissions coal combustion technologies, support for R&D efforts to further improve the efficiency of coal combustion technologies, and financial support from development banks for developing countries to access clean coal technologies.
Milton Catelin, WCA CEO, said, “There are existing technologies that allow coal to be used while minimizing climate impacts. These high-efficiency, low-emissions coal combustion technologies can lower greenhouse gas emissions immediately, highlighting the importance of deploying them as widely and as quickly as possible. If new coal-fired generating capacity added between 2000 and 2011 had used advanced coal technologies, cumulative emissions of CO2 over that period would have been reduced by almost 2 gigatonnes (gt) — this is three times the expected effect of the Kyoto Protocol.
“There is a misconception that the use of coal is incompatible with meeting the challenge of climate change. This is simply not true. With the support of industry, governments, development banks and the international community, coal can continue to play its role in delivering on economic development goals, affordable energy and industrial growth while managing the expectations of people worldwide on climate change and other environmental challenges.”
The WCA is now calling for as many interested stakeholders as possible to sign the Warsaw Communiqué in the run up to the International Coal & Climate Summit in Warsaw, November 18-19. The Warsaw Communiqué, with a list of all signatories, will be delivered to the president of the 19th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP19), which is being held in Warsaw from November 11-12.
