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Africa/Global: Climate Threat, Action Tracks
AfricaFocus Bulletin
November 10, 2016 (161110)
(Reposted from sources cited below)
Editor's Note
"Africa is already burning. The election of Trump is a disaster for
our continent. The United States, if it follows through on its new
President's rash words about withdrawing from the international
climate regime, will become a pariah state in global efforts for
climate action. This is a moment where the rest of the world must
not waver and must redouble commitments to tackle dangerous climate
change," Geoffrey Kamese from Friends of the Earth Africa.
There is no doubt that the election of Donald Trump poses an extreme
threat to action on climate change, as on a host of other
interconnected issues. But, in this case, as in many others, it is
important to remember that a U.S. president, no matter how powerful,
is only one of the forces affecting the outcomes.
Yes, this is a major setback, but the threat did not begin with
Trump and the struggles to combat it must and will continue - on
multiple fronts. While no one organization or movement can fight on
all fronts, those forces fighting for justice and for a future for
our planet must have a vision of a wider background than one U.S.
presidential election.
The context is not only the United States, but the world. And the
arenas are not only political (at multiple levels of government, and
even within the executive branch of the federal government itself),
but also technical, economic, and activist (from divestment to
protest sites such as the Dakota Pipeline). No one organization or
even movement can be on all fronts at once, but together we must
find ways to strategies embedded in a wider vision rather than
engage in fruitless debates about which action track is the "most
important."
This AfricaFocus Bulletin consists of excerpts from a selection of
statements and articles illustrating the multiple tracks on which
action to combat the threat of global warming can and must take
place, globally, in Africa, and in the United States.
- The first two statements are reactions from climate activists to
the additional threat posed by the election of Donald Trump.
- The third highlights the continuing technical and economic success
of cheap off-grid and mini-grid solar in Africa, which is now
estimated to be reaching 10% of the 600,000 Africans living off
national electricity grids.
- The next provides a summary of both the necessity and the economic
and technical viability of a comprehensive transition away from
fossil fuels, from Oil Change International and a coalition of
related organizations.
- The fifth is an open letter from climate activist groups to the
Equator Principles Association of banks committed to social
responsibility principles, calling for withdrawal of support for the
Dakota Access Pipeline.
- The sixth is an update from the International Energy Agency,
revising upwards its projections for growth of renewable energy
worldwide.
- And the last is a report from South Africa's Council for
Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) noting that "new power
from solar PV and wind today is at least 40% cheaper than that from
new baseload coal today."
For previous AfricaFocus Bulletins on the environment and climate
issues, visit http://www.africafocus.org/intro-env.php
Other background articles worth noting:
"There's no way around it: Donald Trump is going to be a disaster
for the planet," Vox, Nov 9, 2016
http://tinyurl.com/oturdlb
"10 Ways You Can Help the Standing Rock Sioux Fight the Dakota
Access Pipeline"
http://tinyurl.com/zsgdejf
++++++++++++++++++++++end editor's note+++++++++++++++++
"Deep breaths. Now let's plan the fight ahead," 350.org, Nov 9, 2016
[Excerpts: full text at
https://350.org/deep-breaths-now-lets-plan-the-fight-ahead/]
Here's what I'm keeping in mind right now:
- This is a global movement. It's more important than ever to
remember our connection with people in literally every country who
are fighting the fossil fuel industry right now � many in the
toughest conditions imaginable. I believe in our collective power
like nothing else.
- The fossil fuel industry is in a fight for its life. When we
expose their lies, stop their pipelines, divest from their stocks
and take away their social license � they fight back. Their
investment in this election was no secret, and they're going to
double-down in its aftermath.
- Local fossil fuel resistance is taking root everywhere. Not only
has the fight against the Dakota Access pipeline spread like
wildfire, but other campaigns against fracking, pipelines, and coal
are too many to name. None of us are giving up or going home today.
Global Community Must Unite Against Trump to Avoid Climate
Catastrophe
Friends of the Earth International
Joint Press release
9 November 2016
http://tinyurl.com/pe4u693
As news of Donald Trump's victory in the US Presidential Election
reached Marrakech, climate justice groups gathered at the COP22
United Nations annual climate change talks reacted:
"Whilst the election of a climate denier into the White House sends
the wrong signal globally. The grassroots movements for climate
justice - Native American communities, people of color, working
people - those that are at this moment defending water rights in
Dakota, ending fossil fuel pollution, divesting from the fossil fuel
industry, standing with communities who are losing their homes and
livelihoods from extreme weather devastation to creating a renewable
energy transformation - are the real beating heart of the movement
for change. We will redouble our efforts, grow stronger and remain
committed to stand with those on the frontline of climate injustice
at home and abroad.. In the absence of leadership from our
government, the international community must come together redouble
their effort to prevent climate disaster," said Jesse Bragg, from
Boston-based Corporate Accountability International.
"For communities in the global south, the U.S. citizens' choice to
elect Donald Trump seems like a death sentence. Already we are
suffering the effects of climate change after years of inaction by
rich countries like the U.S., and with an unhinged climate change
denier now in the White House, the relatively small progress made is
under threat. The international community must not allow itself to
be dragged into a race to the bottom. Other developed countries like
Europe, Canada, Australia, and Japan must increase their pledges for
pollution cuts and increase their financial support for our
communities," said Wilfred D'Costa from the Asian Peoples' Movement
on Debt and Development.
"The Paris Agreement was signed and ratified not by a President, but
by the United States itself. One man alone, especially in the
twenty-first century, should not strip the globe of the climate
progress that it has made and should continue to make. As a matter
of international law, and as a matter of human survival, the nations
of the world can, must, and will hold the United States to its
climate commitments. And it's incumbent upon U.S. communities to
unite and push forth progressive climate policies on a state and
local level, where federal policy does not reign," said Jean Su from
California-based Center for Biological Diversity.
"As a young woman and first-time voter I will not tolerate Trump's
denialism of the action needed for climate justice. Our country must
undergo a systemic change and just transition away from fossil fuels
towards renewable energy within my lifetime. The next four years are
critical for getting on the right pathway, and the disastrous
election of Trump serves as a solemn reminder of the path ahead of
us. As young people and as climate justice movements we will be
demanding real action on climate for the sake of our brothers and
sisters around the world and for all future generations," said Becky
Chung from the youth network SustainUS.
As prices plunge, Africa surges into clean, cheap solar energy
Maina Waruru
Mail and Guardian, 12 Oct 2016
http://tinyurl.com/nu7f9v8
Solar systems in Africa can now provide electricity for many
households for as little as $56 a year.
Last August Kenya won $36 million in support from France to put in
place 23 mini-grid systems in northern Kenya that will use solar
panels, wind or a combination of the two. (Bloomberg) Last August
Kenya won $36 million in support from France to put in place 23
mini-grid systems in northern Kenya that will use solar panels, wind
or a combination of the two. (Bloomberg) Until almost two years ago,
James Mbugua, a farmer living in Karai, a village on the outskirts
of Kenya's capital, relied on kerosene to light his house, and a car
battery to power his television so he wouldn't miss the news.
Part of the reason he couldn't plug into the power grid, despite
being so close to Nairobi and in an area where electricity is
readily available, is that he lives on government land as a
squatter, with no papers to show he owns the 70-foot by 80-foot
parcel where he has put up a makeshift house.
Now, however, he has found an alternative: An affordable solar
system to power his home.
"I could not go on like that and had to seek an alternative way of
lighting my house and I discovered that with only $150 I could use
solar to light my house and power the television plus radio," he
told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
The money for the purchase, he said, came from a loan from his
community savings group, which asks members to contribute $5 a month
and then offers loans from that pot of cash.
The father of five grown children is one of the millions of people
across Africa who are taking advantage of falling prices of home
solar panel systems to get cheaper, cleaner and more reliable
energy.
According to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), home
solar systems in Africa can now provide electricity for many
households for as little as $56 a year - a cost lower than getting
energy from diesel or paraffin.
Of the estimated 600 million people living off-grid in Africa, about
10 percent of them are now using off-grid clean energy to light
their homes, according to IRENA statistics.
"About 60 million people may be using off-grid renewable electricity
of some kind in Africa. That is about 10 percent of those living
off-grid," IRENA Director-General Adnan Z. Amin said at a recent
off-grid renewable energy conference in Nairobi.
Solar, phones and cash
In East Africa alone, more than 350,000 people are now using solar
panels to light their homes and technologies such as mobile phonebased
money transfers to pay for the technology, he said. That
suggests renewable energy could be a major driver to help the region
meet a new U.N. Sustainable Development Goal to provide universal
access to electricity by 2030.
"Here in Kenya, we find ourselves at one of the global epicenters of
growth, where solar products combined with pay-as-you-go models and
mobile payment technologies are breaking new ground in bottom-up
electricity sector development," Amin said.
According to Joseph Njoroge, Kenya's energy and petroleum principal
secretary, solar mini-grids - small-scale electricity networks,
sometimes combined with wind power as well - are expected to play a
major role in bringing electricity to sparsely populated but vast
northern Kenya, as well as to other areas not connected to the
national grid.
"We have a third of Kenya's population living in the northern part
of the country, which is also two-thirds of the total area of the
country, and it is here that we shall hugely deploy solar mini-grids
to attain universal access to power - possibly even before the year
2030", Njoroge said.
Last August Kenya won $36 million in support from France to put in
place 23 mini-grid systems in northern Kenya that will use solar
panels, wind or a combination of the two.
60 percent price drop?
IRENA predicts that ongoing renewable energy innovation, including
new business models and finance, will result in a 60 percent
decrease in the cost of producing electricity from renewable minigrids
in the next 20 years.
Such significant cost drops are being seen not just in Africa but
across the world, IRENA officials said. They attribute the cost
declines to technological innovations, changes in regulatory
policies and an improved investment environment for private money.
Solar home lighting systems - which now cost about $120 for a smallscale
system in Kenya - have fallen by as much as 80 percent since
2010, according to IRENA. The agency noted that it expects the trend
to continue.
At the same time, investments in off-grid solar systems globally
grew by 15 times between 2012 and 2015, with $276 million spent on
them in 2015.
Employment in the renewable energy sector worldwide hit 8.1 million
jobs in 2015, an increase of 1.3 million compared to 2014, IRENA
said. Solar panels led the way with 2.7 million jobs created.
In addition to lighting homes for the poor, off-grid renewable
energy is being used to power things like health and education
facilities, agriculture and water access - helping achieve at least
a dozen of the other new Sustainable Development Goals, an IRENA
report said. - Thomson Reuters Foundation
The Sky's Limit: Why the Paris Climate Goals Require a Managed
Decline of Fossil Fuel Production
Greg Muttitt, September 22, 2016
Oil Change International, in collaboration with 350.org, Amazon
Watch, APMDD, AYCC, Bold Alliance, Christian Aid, Earthworks,
Équiterre, Global Catholic Climate Movement, HOMEF, Indigenous
Environmental Network, IndyAct, Rainforest Action Network, and
Stand.earth
http://priceofoil.org/2016/09/22/the-skys-limit-report/
September 2016
Press Release
A new study released by Oil Change International, in partnership
with 14 organizations from around the world, scientifically grounds
the growing movement to keep carbon in the ground by revealing the
need to stop all new fossil fuel infrastructure and industry
expansion. It focuses on the potential carbon emissions from
developed reserves - where the wells are already drilled, the pits
dug, and the pipelines, processing facilities, railways, and export
terminals constructed.
Key Findings:
The potential carbon emissions from the oil, gas, and coal in the
world's currently operating fields and mines would take us beyond
2deg C of warming.
The reserves in currently operating oil and gas fields alone, even
with no coal, would take the world beyond 1.5°C.
With the necessary decline in production over the coming decades to
meet climate goals, clean energy can be scaled up at a corresponding
pace, expanding the total number of energy jobs.
Key Recommendations:
No new fossil fuel extraction or transportation infrastructure
should be built, and governments should grant no new permits for
them.
Some fields and mines - primarily in rich countries - should be
closed before fully exploiting their resources, and financial
support should be provided for non-carbon development in poorer
countries.
This does not mean stopping using all fossil fuels overnight.
Governments and companies should conduct a managed decline of the
fossil fuel industry and ensure a just transition for the workers
and communities that depend on it.
Executive Summary
In December 2015, world governments agreed to limit global average
temperature rise to well below 2°C, and to strive to limit it to
1.5°C. This report examines, for the first time, the implications of
these climate boundaries for energy production and use.
Our key findings are:
- The potential carbon emissions from the oil, gas, and coal in the
world's currently operating fields and mines would take us beyond
2°C of warming.
- The reserves in currently operating oil and gas fields alone, even
with no coal, would take the world beyond 1.5°C.
- With the necessary decline in production over the coming decades
to meet climate goals, clean energy can be scaled up at a
corresponding pace, expanding the total number of energy jobs.
One of the most powerful climate policy levers is also the simplest:
stop digging for more fossil fuels. We therefore recommend:
- No new fossil fuel extraction or transportation infrastructure
should be built, and governments should grant no new permits for
them.
- Some fields and mines - primarily in rich countries - should be
closed before fully exploiting their resources, and financial
support should be provided for non-carbon development in poorer
countries.
- This does not mean stopping using all fossil fuels overnight.
Governments and companies should conduct a managed decline of the
fossil fuel industry and ensure a just transition for the workers
and communities that depend on it.
In August 2015, just months before the Paris climate talks,
President Anote Tong of the Pacific island nation of Kiribati called
for an end to construction of new coal mines and coal mine
expansions. This report expands his call to all fossil fuels
Enough Already
The Paris Agreement aims to help the world avoid the worst effects
of climate change and respond to its already substantial impacts.
The basic climate science involved is simple: cumulative carbon
dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions over time are the key determinant of how
much global warming occurs. a This gives us a finite carbon budget
of how much may be emitted in total without surpassing dangerous
temperature limits.
We consider carbon budgets that would give a likely (66%) chance of
limiting global warming below the 2°C limit beyond which severe
dangers occur, or a medium (50%) chance of achieving the 1.5°C goal.
Fossil fuel reserves - the known below-ground stocks of extractable
fossil fuels - significantly exceed these budgets. For the 2°C or
1.5°C limits, respectively 68% or 85% of reserves must remain in the
ground.
This report focuses on the roughly 30% of reserves in oil fields,
gas fields, and coal mines that are already in operation or under
construction. These are the sites where the necessary wells have
been (or are being) drilled, the pits dug, and the pipelines,
processing facilities, railways, and export terminals constructed.
These developed reserves are detailed in Figure ES-1, along with
assumed future emissions from the two major non-energy sources of
emissions: land use and cement manufacture.
We see that - in the absence of a major change in the prospects of
carbon capture and storage (CCS): * The oil, gas, and coal in
already-producing fields and mines are more than we can afford to
burn while keeping likely warming below 2°C.
The oil and gas alone are more than we can afford for a medium
chance of keeping to 1.5°C.
When You're in A Hole, Stop Digging
Traditional climate policy has largely focused on regulating at the
point of emissions, while leaving the supply of fossil fuels to the
market. If it ever was, that approach is no longer supportable.
Increased extraction leads directly to higher emissions, through
lower prices, infrastructure lock-in, and perverse political
incentives. Our analysis indicates a hard limit to how much fossil
fuel can be extracted, which can be implemented only by governments:
No new fossil fuel extraction or transportation infrastructure
should be built, and governments should grant no new permits for
them.
Continued construction would either commit the world to exceeding
2°C of warming, and/or require an abrupt end to fossil fuel
production and use at a later date (with increasing severity
depending on the delay). Yet right now, projected investment in new
fields, mines, and transportation infrastructure over the next
twenty years is $14 trillion - either a vast waste of money or a
lethal capital injection. The logic is simple: whether through
climate change or stranded assets, a failure to begin a managed
decline now would inevitably entail major economic and social costs.
The good news is that there is already progress toward stopping new
fossil fuel development. China and Indonesia have declared moratoria
on new coal mine development, and the United States has done so on
federal lands. These three countries account for roughly two-thirds
of the world's current coal production. In 2015, U.S. President
Barack Obama rejected the proposed Keystone XL tar sands pipeline by
noting that some fossil fuels should be left in the ground, and
there is growing recognition of the importance of a climate test in
decisions regarding new fossil fuel infrastructure. d There is an
urgent need to make the coal moratoria permanent and worldwide, and
to stop new oil and gas development as well.
Ending new fossil fuel construction would bring us much closer to
staying within our carbon budgets, but it is still not enough to
achieve the Paris goals. To meet them, some early closure of
existing operations will be required. Every country should do its
fair share, determined by its capacity to act, along with its
historic responsibility for causing climate change. With just 18% of
the world's population, industrialized countries have accounted for
over 60% of emissions to date, and possess far greater financial
resources to address the climate problem.
Most early closures should therefore take place in industrialized
countries, beginning with (but not limited to) coal. While
politically pragmatic, the approach of stopping new construction
tends to favor countries with mature fossil fuel industries;
therefore, part of their fair share should include supporting other
countries on the path of development without fossil fuels,
especially in providing universal access to energy. Therefore:
Some fields and mines - primarily in rich countries - should be
closed before fully exploiting their reserves, and financial support
should be provided for non-carbon development in poorer countries.
Additionally, production should be discontinued wherever it violates
the rights of local people - including indigenous peoples - or where
it seriously damages biodiversity.
A Managed Decline And A Just Transition
Stopping new construction does not mean turning off the taps
overnight. Existing fields and mines contain a finite stock of
extractable fossil fuels. Depleting these stocks, even including
some early closures, would entail a gradual transition in which
extraction rates would decline over a few decades. This is
consistent with a rate of expansion of clean energy that is both
technically and economically possible.
We consider a simple modelling of world energy sources under two
scenarios: 50% renewable energy by 2035 and 80% by 2045, both with a
complete phase-out of coal usage, except in steel production. It is
compared with the projected oil and gas extraction from existing
fields alone.
We conclude that:
While existing fields and mines are depleted over the coming
decades, clean energy can be scaled up at a corresponding pace.
While this pace of renewable energy expansion will require policy
support, it continues existing trends. In many countries - large and
small, rich and poor - clean energy is already being deployed at
scale today. Denmark now generates more than 40% of its electricity
from renewable sources, Germany more than 30%, and Nicaragua 36%.
China is now the largest absolute generator of renewable
electricity, and expanding renewable generation quickly. In most
contexts, the costs of wind and solar power are now close to those
of gas and coal; in some countries renewable costs are already
lower. The expansion of renewable energy will be harder where there
are weak grids in developing countries, hence the importance of
climate finance in supporting a non-carbon transition.
As for transportation, electric vehicles are now entering the
mainstream and are on course to soon be cheaper than gasoline or
diesel cars. With sufficient policy support and investment, the
growth in clean energy can match the needed decline in fossil fuel
extraction and use.
While there are clear advantages to clean energy - lower costs,
greater employment, reduced local pollution, and ultimately greater
financial returns - the transition will not be painless. Energy
workers' skills and locations may not be well matched to the new
energy economy. Whole communities still depend on fossil fuel
industries. There is a vital need for a careful, just transition to
maximize the benefits of climate action while minimizing its
negative impacts.
Governments should provide training and social protection for
affected energy workers and communities. Where appropriate, they
should require energy companies to offer viable careers to their
workers in non-carbon areas of their business. Governments should
also consult with communities to kick-start investments that will
enable carbon- dependent regions to find a new economic life.
Waiting is not an option; planning and implementation must begin
now:
Governments and companies should conduct a proactively managed
decline of the fossil fuel industry and ensure a just transition for
the workers and communities that depend on it.
An open letter to the Equator Principles Association
Civil society groups call for stronger climate commitments in EPs
and a halt to financing the Dakota Access Pipeline
By: BankTrack,Friends of the Earth US,others & RAN
For full version, including signatories and references, visit
http://www.banktrack.org/ - Direct URL: http://tinyurl.com/p4pwhpr
Nov 7 2016
[For contact on this letter: [email protected])] To: Mr. Nigel
Beck, Standard Bank, Chair of the Equator Principles Association,
All Equator Principles Financial institutions (EPFIs)
Concerning: Equator Principles climate commitments, and EPFI
financing of the Dakota Access Pipeline, for discussion at your
Annual Meeting and Workshop in London
Dear Mr. Beck,
The undersigned organizations are writing to you, as Chair of the
Equator Principles Association, to urge the Association at its
upcoming Annual Meeting in London to address two distinct and
important issues:
- Equator Principles Financial Institutions (EPFIs) must take long
overdue, concrete steps to strengthen their climate commitments.
- Our deep concern about the involvement of a substantial number of
EPFIs in the financing of the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL).
Strong climate change commitments from EPFIs needed
As you will be aware, your Annual Meeting coincides with the start
of the Marrakech Climate Summit, where governments will seek ways to
implement the Paris Climate Agreement that came into effect on
November 4. As is already clear, commitments made thus far by state
parties to the agreement will not keep average global temperature
rise below the agreed 2 degree Celsius threshold, let alone the
desired 1.5 degree target.[1] To achieve this, much more needs to be
done, urgently, by state and non-state parties alike.
The Equator Principles (EPs), being the prime sustainability
initiative of 85 of the world's leading banks, could play an
important role in strengthening the climate commitments of adopting
banks. This would also be in the best interest of those banks, given
that the EPs are meant to be an 'enhanced risk management framework
for determining, assessing and managing environmental and social
risk', presumably with 'climate change' included as a major risk.
Given the magnitude of the current climate crisis one would expect
that the EPs demand a high level of climate due diligence to be
conducted, not only to assess the potential impact of climate change
on projects under consideration, but also - and more importantly -
to assess how these projects will contribute to, or may jeopardize,
reaching the globally agreed climate targets of the Paris Agreement.
It would then be imperative that such identified risks are avoided
wherever possible. This would require the mandatory choice of the
least Greenhouse Gas (GHG) intensive alternative for all proposed
projects[2], but also the withholding of finance for all projects
and business activities that pose an unacceptably large climate
risk. Such stringent due diligence and selection procedures,
combined with the a priori categorical exclusion of all projects
that by their very nature strongly contribute to climate change
(most notably all fossil fuel extraction and transportation
infrastructure, and all fossil fuel based energy generation
projects[3]) must then necessarily result in major shifts in the
overall portfolio of EPFIs.
However, the reality today is very different. It took over a decade
for the word 'climate' to even appear in the text of the EPs. But
the current, 2014 version of the EPs (EPIII), in which the word
finally appears, still seems to be in near-complete denial on the
severity of the climate crisis, as it places almost no meaningful
climate conditionality on prospective clients and projects.
Meanwhile, EPFIs have continued to enthusiastically finance new coal
mines and coal power plants, oil exploration projects and pipelines,
gas fracking projects and LNG terminals all over the world.[4] The
fact that all these climate destroying projects are stamped with an
'Equator Compliant' seal of approval not only provides project
sponsors with a wholly undeserved claim to sustainability, but it
also makes a complete mockery of the pretention of the EPFIs to
adequately manage social and environmental risk that impact on their
business.
Change in the climate approach of the EPs is urgently needed and
long overdue. We urgently call upon your Association to use this
Annual Meeting to start strengthening your collective climate
commitments, by including stringent and binding climate criteria for
all projects to be considered under the EP framework, and by
categorically excluding all energy projects with an unacceptably
large impact on climate change, starting with all coal power plants.
Fortunately, the urgency of this matter is not lost on some of your
members; over the last two years a number of EPFIs have adopted
climate and energy policies that move way beyond the EPs.[5] It is
time for the EP Association as a whole to side with the leaders in
your group and move ahead, rather than be content with the EPs
merely reflecting the lowest common denominator.
Equator bank funds for the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL)
Our organizations have been astonished to learn that no less than 13
EPFIs are involved in a credit agreement with Dakota Access LLC and
Energy Transfer Crude Oil Company LLC, to borrow up to $2.5 billion
to construct the Dakota Access Pipeline and the Energy Transfer
Crude Oil Pipeline in the United States.[6] An additional 8 EPFIs
are providing further credit to the project sponsors.[7]
As you are aware, the proposed 1,172 mile-long DAPL is the subject
of huge international outcry, led by the Standing Rock Sioux tribe,
but supported by the tribal governments of over 280 other tribes and
allies from all over the world.[8] This growing global resistance
opposes DAPL because it threatens air and water resources in the
region and further downstream, and because the pipeline trajectory
is cutting through Native American sacred territories and unceded
Treaty lands. Harm to Native areas has already occurred when DAPL
personnel deliberately desecrated documented burial grounds and
other culturally important sites. Native American opponents to the
project emphasize that the DAPL struggle is about larger Native
liberation, self-determination and survival at the hands of colonial
corporations and compliant government actors.
Over the last months, an ever growing number of Native water
protectors and their thousands of allies have converged peacefully
in the pipeline construction area to halt further construction of
the project. In response to this strictly-peaceful, on-site
resistance, police from multiple U.S. states and agencies, members
of the U.S. National Guard, and armed private security forces
working for project sponsors have used military equipment, tactics
and weapons to intimidate, assault, arrest and otherwise commit
grievous human rights violations against water protectors and their
allies. Indiscriminate use of attack dogs, rubber bullets,
concussion grenades, tazers and mace are reported, while journalists
covering the assault on non-violent water protectors have been
arrested. Protesters that have been arrested have been subjected to
inhumane treatment that involved, amongst other things, being locked
up naked, or cramped without food and warmth into dog kennels.[9]
The debacle has escalated into a national crisis and an
international scandal. A member of the UN's Permanent Forum on
Indigenous Issues has been deployed to North Dakota to monitor the
situation, while President Obama has intervened to ask the Army
Corps of Engineers to examine alternative routes for the pipeline.
Meanwhile, the protest at Standing Rock is backed by over a million
- and growing - allies worldwide, with numerous solidarity actions
springing up across the United States and beyond, including protests
at EPFI headquarters and outlets.
The world is closely watching how all actors involved will deal with
the situation, including the banks that provide financial support to
the project. Given the presumed Indigenous rights commitments of
EPFIs, it is for us inexplicable that gross violations of Native
land titles, threats to water sources and the desecration of burial
grounds have not been identified early on as reasons for EPFIs to
not provide funding for this project. However, this unfortunately
fits into a documented and consistent pattern of disrespect of local
communities and Indigenous rights by EPFI-backed projects worldwide.
We understand that it is not the role of the EP Association to
intervene in specific project situations. Nevertheless, we consider
it crucial for the credibility of the Equator Principles as an
effective safeguard against violation of Indigenous Peoples' rights
that your meeting calls upon the EPFIs involved in financing DAPL
that they take swift action to stop the ongoing violation of the
rights of Native Americans.
This for now requires that all further loan disbursements to the
project are put on hold, and that the EPFIs involved demand from the
project sponsors an immediate halt to the construction of the
pipeline and all associated structures, until all outstanding issues
are resolved to the full satisfaction of the Standing Rock Sioux
Tribe.
We kindly request to hear from you as soon as possible on how the EP
Annual Meeting has dealt with these two crucial issues and suggest
that we further discuss them at our already planned meeting in
January.
We wish you a good and productive meeting.
Sincerely
Johan Frijns, Director BankTrack, Netherlands
IEA raises its five-year renewable growth forecast as 2015 marks
record year (Paris)
International Energy Agency 25 October 2016
https://www.iea.org - Direct URL: http://tinyurl.com/h6x3qrc
The International Energy Agency said today that it was significantly
increasing its five-year growth forecast for renewables thanks to
strong policy support in key countries and sharp cost reductions.
Renewables have surpassed coal last year to become the largest
source of installed power capacity in the world.
The latest edition of the IEA's Medium-Term Renewable Market Report
now sees renewables growing 13% more between 2015 and 2021 than it
did in last year's forecast, due mostly to stronger policy backing
in the United States, China, India and Mexico. Over the forecast
period, costs are expected to drop by a quarter in solar PV and 15
percent for onshore wind.
Last year marked a turning point for renewables. Led by wind and
solar, renewables represented more than half the new power capacity
around the world, reaching a record 153 Gigawatt (GW), 15% more than
the previous year. Most of these gains were driven by record-level
wind additions of 66 GW and solar PV additions of 49 GW.
About half a million solar panels were installed every day around
the world last year. In China, which accounted for about half the
wind additions and 40% of all renewable capacity increases, two wind
turbines were installed every hour in 2015.
"We are witnessing a transformation of global power markets led by
renewables and, as is the case with other fields, the center of
gravity for renewable growth is moving to emerging markets," said Dr
Fatih Birol, the IEA's executive director.
There are many factors behind this remarkable achievement: more
competition, enhanced policy support in key markets, and technology
improvements. While climate change mitigation is a powerful driver
for renewables, it is not the only one. In many countries, cutting
deadly air pollution and diversifying energy supplies to improve
energy security play an equally strong role in growing low-carbon
energy sources, especially in emerging Asia.
Over the next five years, renewables will remain the fastest-growing
source of electricity generation, with their share growing to 28% in
2021 from 23% in 2015.
Renewables are expected to cover more than 60% of the increase in
world electricity generation over the medium term, rapidly closing
the gap with coal. Generation from renewables is expected to exceed
7600 TWh by 2021 -- equivalent to the total electricity generation
of the United States and the European Union put together today.
But while 2015 was an exceptional year, there are still grounds for
caution. Policy uncertainty persists in too many countries, slowing
down the pace of investments. Rapid progress in variable renewables
such as wind and solar PV is also exacerbating system integration
issues in a number of markets; and the cost of financing remains a
barrier in many developing countries. And finally, progress in
renewable growth in the heat and transport sectors remains slow and
needs significantly stronger policy efforts.
The IEA also sees a two-speed world for renewable electricity over
the next five years. While Asia takes the lead in renewable growth,
this only covers a portion of the region's fast-paced rise in
electricity demand. China alone is responsible for 40% of global
renewable power growth, but that represents only half of the
country's electricity demand increase.
This is in sharp contrast with the European Union, Japan and the
United States where additional renewable generation will outpace
electricity demand growth between 2015 and 2021.
The IEA report identifies a number of policy and market frameworks
that would boost renewable capacity growth by almost 30% in the next
five years, leading to an annual market of around 200 GW by 2020.
This accelerated growth would put the world on a firmer path to
meeting long-term climate goals.
"I am pleased to see that last year was one of records for
renewables and that our projections for growth over the next five
years are more optimistic," said Dr. Birol. "However, even these
higher expectations remain modest compared with the huge untapped
potential of renewables. The IEA will be working with governments
around the world to maximize the deployment of renewables in coming
years."
Comparative Analysis: The cost of new power generation in South
Africa
Chris Yelland
Daily Maverick, 9 November 2016
http://tinyurl.com/nbdwh3o
In a presentation dated October 14, 2016, the head of CSIR's Energy
Centre, Dr Tobias Bischof-Niemz, and Ruan Fourie, energy economist
at CSIR's Energy Centre, provide a comparative analysis for new
power in South Africa based on recent coal IPP bid price
announcements by Minister of Energy Tina Joemat-Pettersson on
October 10, 2016, and other data.
This study is seen as important for any review of the draft update
to the Integrated Resource Plan for Electricity (Draft IRP)
currently in progress by the Department of Energy (DoE).
The Draft IRP was to have been presented to the Cabinet last week,
and thereafter made available to the public for comment, but this
has since been delayed, with no further dates being given.
Since the previous due date of end March 2016, the request for
proposals (RFP) for the proposed 9.6 GW new nuclear build in South
Africa has also been further delayed from the revised issue date of
end September 2016.
However, it is known that in the meantime various stakeholder
structures reporting to the Minister of Energy are currently
reviewing the Draft IRP and its proposals for new renewable,
baseload coal and nuclear power, and making further input and
recommendations.
The CSIR study shows the significant reduction in the cost of energy
from wind and solar PV generation technologies in South Africa since
submission of bids for Window 1 of the renewable energy IPP
programme (REIPPP) on November 4, 2011, to those of the expedited
round of Window 4 on November 4, 2015.
The result of this reduction is that new power from solar PV and
wind today is at least 40% cheaper than that from new baseload coal
today.
Recent bid prices for solar PV in Mexico at R0,49/kWh, Dubai at
R0.42/kWh, Chile at R0.41/kWh and Abu Dhabi at R0.34/kWh (all based
on US $1 = R14) have shown that this significantly reducing price
trend is continuing still further globally.
The solar PV, wind and coal IPP tariffs presented by the CSIR for
South Africa are fully comparable, because they are all based on
long-term take-or-pay contracts with the same off-taker (Eskom). The
tariffs have also been suitably adjusted for consistency.
In this regard, the price of R0.61/kWh for new wind and solar PV,
and R1.03/kWh for new coal IPPs, reflects an adjustment of the bid
prices to ensure a common base-date of April 2016, a consistent
present-value-equivalent escalation index of CPI+1%-point, and
exclusion of the carbon tax of R120/t of CO2 emitted from the coal
IPP tariff.
The CSIR study also presents the latest updated levelised cost of
electricity (LCOE) calculations for new Eskom baseload coal at R1.10
to R1.20/kWh, new baseload nuclear at R1.20 to R1.30/kWh, new midmerit
gas (CCGT) at R1 to R1.20/kWh, and new mid-merit coal at
R1.50/kWh.
The CSIR study and presentation confirms EE Publisher's earlier LCOE
calculations for the cost of for new nuclear power in South Africa.
The EE Publishers study calculated an LCOE of R1.30/kWh for nuclear
power based on Rosatom VVER 1200 reactors, and provided a detailed
sensitivity analysis for the various assumptions used.
The CSIR study and presentation of the LCOE for new Eskom baseload
coal power is also in line with EE Publishers' own LCOE calculation
for Eskom's new Medupi and Kusile baseload coal-fired power stations
of R1.05/kWh and R1.16/kWh respectively.
After first rubbishing EE Publishers' LCOE calculations for Medupi
and Kusile, citing its own calculation of R0.71/kWh and R0.82/kWh
for Medupi and Kusile respectively, Eskom's head of generation,
Matshela Koko, subsequently undertook have Eskom's and EE Publishers
LCOE calculations independently reviewed.
However, after receiving EE Publishers' detailed analysis of the
differences between Eskom's and EE Publishers' methodology and
assumptions, Eskom has since reneged on this undertaking, and
ignored all efforts to proceed with the independent review it had
proposed. DM
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