{"id":35315,"date":"2017-11-10T16:33:48","date_gmt":"2017-11-10T16:33:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/?p=35315"},"modified":"2017-11-12T15:18:47","modified_gmt":"2017-11-12T15:18:47","slug":"coal-deals-possible-us-holds-industry-event-un-climate-talks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/2017\/11\/10\/coal-deals-possible-us-holds-industry-event-un-climate-talks\/","title":{"rendered":"Coal deals ‘very possible’ as US holds industry event at UN climate talks"},"content":{"rendered":"

Some countries attending UN climate talks in Bonn hope a Trump administration fossil fuels presentation will\u00a0provide an opportunity to strike coal technology deals with the US.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

African diplomats told Climate Home News that talks on\u00a0technology trades\u00a0were \u201cvery possible\u201d on the fringes of the\u00a0US event on Monday.<\/span><\/p>\n

The following day,\u00a0Ukraine is planning to table an initiative to bring energy corporates closer to the UN climate process, which it claims has US backing.<\/p>\n

The proposal\u00a0would slot energy multinationals into an \u201cintermediate layer\u201d between the UN\u00a0Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and national governments. It has been encouraged by US officials and coal firms, its authors say, and will be\u00a0raised by Ukraine’s environment minister\u00a0Ostap Semerak\u00a0on Tuesday.<\/span><\/p>\n

Industry executives and Obama-era climate negotiators say that\u00a0pushing US\u00a0coal\u00a0into the heart of the UN negotiations\u00a0could offer president Donald Trump political cover to reverse his plans to exit the global climate treaty, should he choose to do so.<\/span><\/p>\n

The White House and US state department co-organised\u00a0the side meeting<\/span><\/a>, which is titled: “The Role of Cleaner and More Efficient Fossil Fuels and Nuclear Power in Climate Mitigation”.<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u2018Don\u2019t wake the bear\u2019:<\/strong> fragile climate talks begin in Bonn<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Trump’s climate advisor George David Banks,\u00a0who lobbied Trump to keep the US in the Paris deal<\/a>,<\/span>\u00a0will address the event. Vice president Mike Pence’s advisor Francis Brooke will chair it. Holly Krutka, vice president of coal generation and emissions technologies for Peabody Energy,\u00a0the largest private coal company on earth, will also attend.<\/span><\/p>\n

Barry K Worthington, the director of the US Energy Association and a high profile speaker at the event, was unequivocal when asked if striking fossil fuel trade deals was an objective of the meeting.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cFor sure,\u201d\u00a0he told Climate Home News.\u00a0\u201cWe in the\u00a0US\u00a0are\u00a0very dedicated to increasing our fossil fuel\u00a0production and exporting to other countries.\u00a0<\/span>T<\/span>he flavour du jour is\u00a0LNG\u00a0but we’re also exporting crude oil and derivative products and continue to export a sizeable volume of coal.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Benjamin Sporton, director of the\u00a0World Coal Association, said\u00a0there were \u201ca lot of conversations going on\u201d about US\u00a0lower-emission coal technology transfer deals, which could get a boost from the event. Pakistan, Ghana, Nigeria and Ukraine\u00a0were likely candidates for such deals, he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ghana has been living with an energy crisis since a drought\u00a0associated with climate change<\/span><\/a>\u00a0hit hydro power generation in the country, bringing\u00a0routine power outages<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Wisdom Ahiataku-Togobo, the Ghanaian energy ministry’s renewable energy director, said talks about coal technology transfer deals with the US at the climate summit were \u201cvery\u00a0<\/span>possible, because\u00a0the\u00a0Volta\u00a0River\u00a0Authority [Ghana’s largest\u00a0energy\u00a0company] is prospecting for these options\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u00a0are looking at clean coal options\u00a0and\u00a0if it comes out as more cost-competitive,\u00a0why not?\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Report:<\/strong>\u00a0One in seven coal power plant owners are heading for the exit<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

According to Seyni Nafo, the chair of the Africa group of climate negotiators,<\/span>\u00a0some African\u00a0nations are turning to coal after struggling to access finance\u00a0for renewable energy.<\/span>
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\u201cIf you are presented with a certain technology with a finance package, that\u2019s what you are going to implement,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s the situation in which we find ourselves. If the fossil option is the cheapest one and you have access to do it and its a simple process, that\u2019s what you are going to do.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Any African country with coal deposits would be tempted by the prospect of electrifying rural areas of their country with relatively less-emitting coal technology, he added.<\/span><\/p>\n

A former state department official, who is in Bonn,\u00a0was doubtful that the talks would be used as a vehicle for trade deals.\u00a0If that had been\u00a0Trump’s objective, US engagement would have started earlier and US negotiators\u00a0would\u00a0have\u00a0been\u00a0more\u00a0visible on the ground, they said.<\/span><\/p>\n

However,\u00a0an\u00a0obscure Ukrainian proposal\u00a0raised this week during a\u00a0backroom meeting of negotiators could formalise access to the heart of the UN climate process for companies that want to sell coal technology.<\/span><\/p>\n

The ‘Committee for Future<\/span><\/a>‘ will “enhance public and private sector participation” in national climate policies, according to a low-on-detail powerpoint presentation made by Taras Bebeshko, an advisor to the Ukrainian energy minister. He told Climate Home News it was\u00a0envisaged as a way of bringing US energy majors and other non-state actors to the\u00a0UN table.<\/p>\n

Presentation From Ukraine Art 6.8<\/a> by Karl Mathiesen<\/a> on Scribd<\/p>\n