Brussels, 19/11/2015 (Agence Europe) - After two years of talks and ahead of the UN summit on climate change (COP 21), the main industrialised countries at the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) - Australia, Canada, Japan, Norway, New Zealand, South Korea, Switzerland, the USA and the EU - agreed on Tuesday 17 November to limit their export support for the most polluting types of coal-fired power plants.
Under the OECD's arrangement on export credits with public support, these countries have agreed on new rules for public aid granted to the exports of coal-fired power plants, including restricting the granting of export credits with public support for the most polluting types of power plant.
The agreement encourages exporters and purchasers of coal-fired power plants to abandon polluting technology in favour of high-efficiency technology. It foresees the scrapping of support for big super-critical and sub-critical coal-fired power plants, but allows aid for sub-critical power stations in poor and developing countries. It also authorises the granting of public aid for small and medium-capacity power stations in countries facing precarious energy supply issues. Restrictions on the granting of public aid will not apply to power plants equipped with carbon capture and storage systems, as stipulated in the climate change agreement.
The new rules distinguish between small-scale coal-fire power plants (with a capacity of up to 300 megawatts), medium-scale ones (capacity of between 300 and 500 megawatts) and large-scale ones (capacity of over 500 megawatts), also distinguishing between the type of technology used (ultra-supercritical, supercritical and sub-critical), and the level of development of the destination country.
The new rules will come into force on 1 January 2017 and will undergo a compulsory re-examination in 2019 to strengthen them in line with changes in climate science and electricity generation technologies and changes in national action frameworks.
The OECD commented that the new rules will make a major contribution to efforts deployed internationally to combat climate change. The OECD explains that more than two-thirds of coal-fired power plants that were granted public aid for export credits between 2003 and 2013 by the countries in question will no longer be eligible for such aid under the new rules.
In Europe, the deal was hailed by trade commissioner Cecilia Malmström on 18 November, but it now requires formal endorsement from the EU member states. It will be presented to the meeting of European trade ministers on 27 November for debate. (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)