Leaders discuss solutions for plans of coal-fired power in Asia

In an unusually stark warning, the World Bank president, Jim Yong Kim, noted that countries in south and south-east Asia were on track to build hundreds more coal-fired power plants in the next 20 years – despite promises made at Paris to cut greenhouse gas emissions and pivot to a clean energy future

“Plans to build more coal-fired power plants in Asia would be a disaster for the planetand overwhelm the deal forged at Paris to fight climate change, ” said Yong on Thursday.

In the US, coal use is in sharp decline with the country’s biggest companies  in bankruptcy. But there is still strong demand for coal in South Asia and East Asia, where tens of millions still have no access to electricity. China, India, Indonesia and Vietnam alone account for three-quarters of new coal-fired power plants expected to be built around the world in the next five years.

The Bank said last month it would devote 28% of its spending to climate change projects.

These statements were made during a two-day gathering of government and corporate leaders in Washington, coming just two weeks after 175 governments reaffirmed their commitment to the Paris agreement in a symbolic signing ceremony at the United Nations.

The months until the next annual climate meeting, taking place in Morocco in November, are packed with conferences intended to turn the promises made at Paris into concrete actions.

UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon is pushing hard for governments to formally join the agreement and bring it into force before Barack Obama leaves office in January 2017.

Mayors and business leaders at the gathering in Washington said governments also needed to move swiftly to remove barriers to investment in clean energy, especially in developing countries.

One of their biggest challenges is the projected new investment in coal-fired power plants in Asia.