INTHEBLACK July 2025 - Magazine - Page 27
“There are jobs in the construction phase of wind and solar, but very few in
the operational phase. Running a coal-fired power station is a very labourintensive business, so the transition to labour-lite is massive.”
BRUCE MOUNTAIN, VICTORIA ENERGY POLICY CENTRE
FINANCING THE SWITCH
The Asia-Pacific region is home to
approximately 5000 coal-fired power
plants, many of which have not reached
the halfway point of their typical lifespan.
In countries such as India and Indonesia,
coal use is on the increase as a phase-out
presents issues of energy security and
fewer jobs.
Plants in the region will add around
215 gigatonnes of carbon emissions to
the atmosphere between now and 2050,
equating to more than 40 per cent of the
global carbon budget to meet the Paris
Agreement goal, states a recent MSCI
Sustainability Institute report.
A critical inhibitor to the phase-out
is the availability of finance, with taxonomies
and standard setters not making
allowances for coal projects, according to
the World Economic Forum. The EU Green
Taxonomy, for example, imposes a ban
on coal investment.
Another preclusive factor is the widespread
use of long-term power purchase agreements.
In a bid to tackle the problem, the Monetary
Authority of Singapore has announced
two pilot projects in the Philippines for
the use of high-integrity transition credits
for emissions reduced by the early retirement
of a coal-fired power plant.
Global organisations including the
World Business Council for Sustainable
Development have been convening
stakeholders to find ways to promote
complementary development — phasing in
renewables to enable the phase-out
of traditional energy sources.
The converted Battersea Power Station, London, England
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