Paris Accord breached?

The following news item of a Reuters report from Launceseon on 19th Aug, 2021, captioned ‘Column- Asia Coal Demands Surge in Stark Contrast with U.N Climate Warming’, shows even those countries who signed the Paris accord are moving away, seeing the futility in the face of the development of a country and their needs –

“Referring to the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [IPCC] report released on 9th Aug. put the blame for weather extremes on human activity and said rapid action was needed to limit the damage. Asia is still the epicenter for construction of new coal-fired generation with several countries including China currently building massive capacity and advancing plans to build even more……

China has 96.7 GW Coal fired generation currently under construction according to data from the Global Energy Monitor….

Japan has 6 GW of Coal-fired power under construction, while South Korea has 7.3 GW being built. Bangladesh has 4.1 GW and Pakistan 3.3 GW.

Indonesia is currently building 11.8 capacity and India 34.4GW.

It will be seen that these countries now see the realities and relying on Renewable Sources of energy cannot match the needs.

In the light of this, strangely, Sri Lanka, an under developed or developing country, has cancelled the 4th additional Coal fired plant at Norochcholai, which the CEB has vehemently objected to, warning of a severe power shortage in and around 2024. Perhaps the government intends to turn to the private sector in the event of a power shortage, and make the CEB fall into more financial difficulties.

It is hoped President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa rethinks and takes the CEB into confidence and approves the construction of the additional coal fired plant at Norochcholai.

It is also the duty of the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka [PUCSL], an organisation set up to guide and direct all utility services, inclusive of the CEB, to express its views and not make consumers face a ‘Black Out’ as feared by the CEB.

G.A.D.SIRIMAL

Boralesgamuwa