Breaking Indonesia's Coal Habit May Cost Rich Nations Billions - Bloomberg
Ever since Indonesia accelerated plans last year to achieve carbon neutrality, a parade of climate envoys from developed nations has headed to the archipelago, offering assistance and financial aid in exchange for a commitment by the world’s biggest exporter of coal by weight to phase out coal power.
Officials from the U.S. and Europe hope to secure a deal by the time Indonesia hosts G-20 leaders in Bali in November, establishing a major milestone in the global effort to cut emissions and providing an impetus for the United Nations’ COP27 climate summit in Egypt the same month.
Related Knowledge Center: Climate diplomacy
Talks are well underway in preparation for the next major international meeting on climate change, 28th Conference of the Parties (COP28), scheduled to begin Nov. 30 in the United Arab Emirates.
Much like last year’s COP27, finances — specifically, aid to developing nations — will be at the center of conference deliberations.
The conference faces an even greater sense of urgency brought on by the Sept. 8, 2023, release of the first global stocktake, which calls for accelerated action to meet the goals set in the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement (COP21).
Climate diplomacy: COP 27 | Climate diplomacy: COP 28 | Climate diplomacy: COP 29
Related Knowledge Center: ENERGY BASICS: coal
The use of coal, a staple of heating and electricity-generation for decades, is in decline in the United States — supplanted by newly abundant production of natural gas — but is still dominant in some parts of the world. While economical, coal use is particularly problematic as international attention focuses increasingly on climate change.