LONDON: Building just a third of planned new coal-fired power plants around the world would push hundreds of millions of people into poverty as it accelerates climate change past an agreed limit of 2 degrees Celsius of warming, development experts warn.

As pressure builds to phase out coal as a power source in favour of cleaner renewable energy, the coal industry has fought back, arguing that coal is the cheapest and most reliable way to bring power to millions without it.

In particular, “clean coal” technology offers emissions 25 to 40 per cent lower than traditional coal plants, industry officials say.

But a report by a dozen poverty and development organisations – including the UK-based Overseas Development Institute and the Vasudha Foundation in New Delhi - suggests that falling prices for solar and wind power mean renewable energy is now the fastest and least expensive way to bring electricity to the world’s poor.

In particular, off-grid and “distributed” renewable power – in which smaller-scale clean power systems are built close to areas of demand, avoiding the high cost of expanding national power grids – is “the cheapest and quickest way of reaching over two-thirds of those without electricity”, the report said.

“There are myths that we’re trying to pull up the ladder and deny developing countries the chance to develop the way we did,” said Sarah Wykes, the lead analyst on climate change and energy issues for CAFOD, a Catholic international development charity.

Published in Dawn October 26th, 2016