Pacific nations under climate threat urge Australia to abandon coal within 12 years

Pacific countries vulnerable to climate change have urged Australia to abandon coal power generation within 12 years, and to prohibit new coal plants or expansion of existing plants.

 Tuvalu, under acute threat from climate change, joins
other Pacific nations to call on Australia to end
coal-powered energy generation. 

The call from 15 small Pacific island states came one day after the Australian government called for expressions of interest in new power generation projects, indicating it would be prepared to use taxpayer money to underwrite new coal plants.

Leaders warned Australia’s relations in the Pacific were being eroded by a perceived intransigence in Canberra over coalmining.

As the COP24 UN climate talks in Poland remained stalled over an unwillingness from major emitters to commit to further carbon emissions cuts, frustrated Pacific states, traditional allies of Australia, said the world must abandon coal-powered energy generation.

Read the story from The Guardian by Ben Doherty in Katowice - “Pacific nations under climate threat urge Australia to abandon coal within 12 years.”