ESG developments
A sustainable energy future includes coal – it’s time to make peace with that Adani Australia
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reating sustainable energy solutions that will cut our global emissions while enabling growth in developing nations is an issue that requires every country in the world to play their part. This can happen. Our global leaders have the capacity to react effectively to a global crisis – this was demonstrated during the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, reducing emissions to mitigate climate change requires a similar response to the pandemic. The solutions will be technology-driven, supported by policies and infrastructure to accelerate their adoption. And while many companies are talking about their future green credentials, at the Adani Group, we are walking the talk as we prepare to invest more than US$20 billion over the next decade in renewable energy generation, manufacturing and distribution. We are already the world’s largest solar company and we’re on track to be the world’s largest renewable power generating company by 2030. Hydrogen technologies have the potential to be the ultimate source of green energy. But while we invest to make them affordable and practical in order to lift people from poverty in fast-growing nations such as India, the current reality is we need coal to create affordable, reliable baseload power. Yet this remains something that many people simply cannot come to grips with. What is it about this scene that is so hard to come to understand? The reality is that coal,
gas and renewables are needed to provide a sustainable energy mix. When Asia experienced a cold winter and economies rebounded in December 2020, thermal coal was in demand to meet the energy gap, according to the International Energy Agency.1 Likewise, a dry period that reduced the capacity of hydropower and wind in early 2021 increased demand for coal-fired generation across Asia. Global coal-fired energy generation increased about 15% in early 2021 from its COVID-19 decline, according to the International Energy Agency. This demand propelled the Newcastle thermal coal price to an all-time high in October 2021. Coal-fired power is currently a reliable, accessible and affordable energy source for the developing world. More than a quarter of a billion people in India rely on coal-fired energy, as well as many more millions across the world. They deserve to be able to access power for safety, for their education, to be able to make meals for their family and for their work – just as citizens of the developed world have done. The lives and livelihoods of people in the developing world should not be sacrificed to manage the global problem of climate
1 https://www.iea.org/reports/coal-fired-power
BBMC Yearbook 2021
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