#COP23 : Coal database launched & Bloomberg’s $50m anti-coal fund

Global Coal Exit List: ‘A German environment NGO has published a database of over 770 coal-focused companies designed as a divestment tool for the finance industry.’ The Global Coal Exit List (GCEL) published by Urgeveld ‘provides key statistics on over 770 companies whose activities range from coal exploration and mining, coal trading and transport, to coal power generation and manufacturing of coal plants.’ “We developed the GCEL to provide the finance industry with a concise list of companies that should be divested,” says Heffa Schuecking, director of Urgewald. “Keeping to a 1.5°C pathway will be impossible unless banks and investors make a speedy and full exit from investments in the coal industry.” … ‘All in all, the companies listed in the GCEL represent over 88% of world coal production and 86% of the world’s coal-fired capacity. In contrast to most other coal databases, the GCEL is not limited to coal miners and coal-based utilities, but also lists over 200 so-called ‘service’ companies. The GCEL not only maps out which companies have a coal share of revenue or coal share of power generation above 30%, it also lists all companies which produce over 20 million tons of coal annually or operate more than 10 000 MW of coal-fired capacity.’ (Mining Review, 10 Nov).

coalexit.org

Rio Tinto, One of the World’s Biggest Miners Is About to Go Coal-Free: ‘Rio Tinto Group, the world’s second-largest miner, has been steadily backtracking from coal to focus on better assets. It’s now looking for buyers for its remaining coal mines in Australia, and a sale will mark a complete exit from the fuel.’ (Bloomberg, 10 Nov)

Michael Bloomberg’s ‘war on coal’ goes global with $50m fund: ‘On Thursday, he announced a $50m (£38m) plan to expand the programme into Europe and then the rest of the world. The money will support grassroots campaigns, research on the health impacts of coal and legal action against coal plants that are breaking pollution rules. (Guardian, 9 Nov) Note: In Europe, some of the new funding will be administered by the European Climate Foundation.

In others news and announcements from COP23:

• Some of Europe’s largest energy companies have accused the EU of lacking ambition in the fight against climate change and urged more aggressive targets for growth in renewable power. … A proposed target for renewables to meet 27 per cent of EU energy consumption by 2030, up from 16.7 per cent in 2015, “lacks ambition and would slow down the current rate of renewables deployment” in Europe, the companies said.’ The companies, that include Iberdrola of Spain, Enel of Italy and SSE of the UK, EnBW of Germany, EDP of Portugal and Orsted, previously known as Dong Energy, ‘called for an EU-wide binding target for 35 per cent renewable energy by 2030.’ (FT, 5 Nov)
• ‘Clean-energy activity slowed in developing countries in 2016, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance’s Climatescope research project released Monday.’ (Bloomberg BusinessWeek, 6 Nov). Axios say the report ‘cautions that “countries on both side of the rich-poor divide are falling short on promises made to address climate change through clean energy investment.” The full report is here and here.
• Paris Agreement Climate Pledges: Where Will The Money Come From? In a research note on financing of NDCs S&P Global find that ‘the total implementation cost for countries that have submitted specific financial figures to meet their NDCs is about $5.3 trillion. By comparison, the total outstanding global climate-aligned bonds issued currently stands at only $895 billion. Financing the transition will likely include not only sovereign green bond issuance but will ‘also likely include private sector funds, potentially through legislative incentives and other efforts, to meet these targets.’ (S&P Global, 6 Nov)
• The seven megatrends that could beat global warming: ‘There is reason for hope’: Damian Carrington interviews Christiana Figueres and looks at seven trends that could help beat climate change: (Guardian, 8 Nov)
• Responsible Investor (free to read): COP23: Our pick of the best investor-specific events (Updated with new events!) (3 Nov)
• Lazard latest Levelized Cost of Energy Analysis show how far unsubsidised renewable electricity costs (green) have fallen compared to conventional fuels (blue) (Lazard, 2 Nov):

To receive The Kenrick Chronicle by email every few weeks sign up at www.financedialogue.org/#4