reply

Communication to the OECD’s Arrangement on efforts to expand the Coal-Fired Electricity Generation Sector - reply

<p>This entry was provided by the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law. Please see the terms of use for citation and licensing of third party data.</p>

Litigation

Sabin

Sabin Litigation

complaint

Communication to the OECD’s Arrangement on efforts to expand the Coal-Fired Electricity Generation Sector - complaint

Filing Year For Action

On October 20, 2021, the UN Special Procedure on hazardous wastes, Mr. Orellana, and human rights and the environment, Mr. Boyd, issued a communication Participants to the OECD’s Arrangement on Officially Supported Credit Arrangement on their efforts to expand the Coal-Fired Electricity Generation Sector Understanding (currently, Australia, Canada, the European Union, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, Norway, Switzerland, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United States). They note that mining and combustion of thermal coal make an outsized contribution to the aggravation and causation of the global climate crisis, with devasting effects on the ‘effective enjoyment of rights to life, health, and a healthy environment’. 

The communication notes that according to recent reports from the IPCC, UNEP, IEA, and UNICEF, the negative effects of coal mining and combustion, including on children’s rights, are overwhelmingly clear and worrying. To achieve net zero emissions by 2050, ‘all countries need to immediately stop construction of new coal power plants, phase them out completely by 2030 in advanced communities and close all of them by 2040 globally’ to meet the Paris temperature targets. Amongst the concerns cited are that coal-fired electricity causes about 35% of total methane emissions from all fossil fuel related sources, an extremely potent greenhouse gas (GHG). 

In follow up to G7 and other commitments, the Special procedures recommend that the Participants to the OECD Coal-Fired Electricity Generation Sector Understanding expand their commitment by agreeing to immediately (a) stop building new coal-fired power plants, (b) immediately terminate subsidies and export financing and guarantees for any and all actions related to coal-fired plants and exploration, extraction and production of thermal coal and associated infrastructure, without exceptions or exemptions;  (c) require existing coal-fired plants to be closed by 2030 in high-income nations and by 2040 in middle-income nations.

The group replied on December 17, 2021, that they agreed in a meeting on October 22, 2021, to end official export credit support and to tie aid support for unabated coal-fired power plants2. This ban came into force on 1 November 2021 and will be reflected in the next version of the group’s Arrangement on Officially Supported Export Credits, to be issued in early 2022. They also noted that recommendations on stopping construction of new plants, phasing out, and subsidies are not issues ‘that might be addressed or resolved by the groups working on export credits at the OECD.’ There are, however, further plans to improve due diligence screening and assessments of project applications for potential severe project-related human rights impacts in further amendments of other instruments, and the human rights experts are welcomed as stakeholders in the consultation to provide advice on how responses to potential human rights impacts could be enhanced.

Communication to the OECD’s Arrangement on efforts to expand the Coal-Fired Electricity Generation Sector

The Climate Litigation Database

Find climate change litigation data and indicators for {text}.

{text} litigation

Sabin Center for Climate Change Law provides Climate Litigation Database, a comprehensive database of US and Global climate change caselaw

Quickly and easily search through the complete text of thousands of climate change law and policy documents from every country.

Search the Climate Litigation Database

An aim to achieve a quantifiable outcome within a given time-frame, set by an institution such as a national government.

Policy instruments are techniques or tools used by governing authorities to promote certain policies in order to achieve predetermined goals. Put simply, instruments are how a government tries to achieve its goals, with this taxonomy being focused on national policy instruments.

Risk is the potential for adverse consequences resulting from the dynamic interplay between (climate-related) hazards, exposure, and vulnerability of affected human or ecological systems.

Groups  of people who are adversely affected by climate change or the response to it

A set of principles, processes, and practices that build economic and political power to shift from an extractive economy to a regenerative economy.

Renewable energy means all forms of energy produced from renewable sources in a sustainable manner.

Fossil fuel is a generic term for non-renewable energy sources such as coal, fossil gas, and oil (including crude oil, and petroleum products), that can be used for electricity and heat generation. Fossil fuels are hydrocarbons formed from pressurised and heated organic material buried over millions of years.

Molecules in the atmosphere that play a key role in the greenhouse effect by trapping heat radiating from Earth’s surface.

Area of the economy in which actors engage in identical or related activities.

In human systems, the process of adjustment to actual or expected climate change and its effects, in order to moderate harm, increase resilience or exploit beneficial opportunities. In natural systems, the process of adjustment to actual climate change and its effects; human intervention may facilitate adjustment to expected climate change and its effects.

The management and allocation of funds, assets and investments to meet various objectives

This sector involves the wholesale and retail selling of goods.

A subsidy is a direct or indirect payment to individuals or businesses, typically provided as a government cash payment or a specific tax reduction.

Coal is a combustible sedimentary rock formed from carbonised plant matter, rich in carbon and hydrocarbons, and occurring in several main types including hard coal and brown coal.

Either money or something of monetary value is transferred between two or more organisations, people or countries.

A ban is a legal action that prevents the sale or supply of a product or service, or that recalls a product from the market. Examples are bans on SF6, greenwashing, fossil fuel advertisement or single-use plastics.

The activities of industries involved in the production, distribution, and sale of energy, including electricity, gas, and renewables.

Activities of industries that extract natural resources, such as mining, oil, and gas, for commercial use.

The release of heat-trapping gases, primarily from human activities such as burning fossil fuels, agriculture and industry.

The processes through which enterprises can identify, prevent, mitigate and account for how they address their actual and potential adverse impacts. Due diligence is the idea that reasonable precautions should be taken to avoid causing harm to people, the environment, or society. It also involves identifying and mitigating risks before they occur.

Communication to the OECD’s Arrangement on efforts to expand the Coal-Fired Electricity Generation Sector - reply

Target

Policy instrument

Fossil fuel

Greenhouse gas

Economic sector

Finance