Banking on Coal
Publisher: CEE Bankwatch Network
Date: November, 2013
Volume: 53 pages, pdf
Description
News on the climate front is invariably bad. Even the current “modest” temperature rise of 0.8°Celsius (C) is translating into a rapid meltdown of the Arctic, rising sea levels, more superstorms, floods and extreme heat waves. But what is even worse is that in retrospect these will seem like the “good old times,” as we are currently doing our best to overshoot the threshold of 2°C and trigger really catastrophic climate change. The single greatest source of the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions heating up our planet is coal. Yet perversely, it seems the more we hear, talk and negotiate about climate change, the more we mine and burn coal. Global coal production grew over 69% between 2000 and 2012, and has now reached the record level of 7.9 billion metric tons1 annually. Never before has so much coal been mined and burnt on the planet as today.