Stop Investing In Developing Nations’ Coal Power Plants Or Face Drastic Consequences, Say Environmental Experts

By Laura Woodhead – Talk Radio News Service

A panel of environmental experts argued Thursday that industrialized nations need to stop investing in coal powered power plants in developing nations or risk grave global environmental consequences.

Bruce Rick, Senior Counsel for International Finance and Development at the Environmental Defense Fund, maintained that the issue is not the sovereign right of developing nations to decide what energy investments they want, but the role that developed countries should play in encouraging non – developed countries to adopt renewable energy policies.

“If we cant reverse the increasing carbonization of the world’s energy sources…the entire rich industrialized world could reduce their CO₂ emissions to 0 by 2030, and if the current investment trends continue, the world would still over shoot what is considered dangerous global warming” said Rick during a discussion on “The International Public Financing of Coal in a Carbon Constrained World” with the Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EEIS)

The panel also discussed the health risks posed by the increasing investment in coal powered plants. While acknowledging the health benefits that electricity can bring to non-developed nations, John M Balbus M.D MPH said that between 6000 and 10,700 deaths annually could be specifically attributed to the 88 power plants funded by developed nations over the past 15 years, causing a “hidden ongoing toll of death and disease.”

Director of Environmental Department at the World Bank, Warren Evans, acknowledged the pivotal role that many US investors play in the climate change debate, but said it was important to keep these issues within their social and economic perspectives.

“[For many nations it is] simply a choice between growth and clean up later or no growth at all” Evans said. The Director added that it is important for the U.S. to assume a strong leadership role in the quest for low carbon emissions across the world.