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Public development banks should not prop up the fossil fuel industry
(EurActiv, 10 May 2024) In a recent interview with The Banker magazine, President of the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), Odile Renaud-Basso, stated “We must engage with the fossil fuel industry to meet the methane pledge”. While reducing methane emissions from the energy sector is undoubtedly an important part of keeping global temperature rise within the 1.5°C goal, ending methane emissions from this sector should be the urgent focus.
Sophie Richmond is Global Lead for the Big Shift Campaign, at Climate Action Network (CAN)
The idea that public money is vital to support an industry where the top 5 companies alone made a profit of USD$111bn last year alone is questionable. This approach also leads to false solutions like Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS), technology that is unproven at scale, expensive and distracting.
Public money should be directed to support developing countries shore up their own decarbonised development pathways, shifting off fossil fuels or leapfrogging directly to sustainable renewable energy. Especially when the money is coming via institutions whose goals are to support development and invest where private financing alone wouldn’t intervene.
Methane plays a serious role in contributing to a warming planet. 2021 saw the largest annual increase in methane emissions since global monitoring began four decades ago.
Fossil fuel companies are being painfully slow in tackling this. The latest tracker from the IEA shows that fossil fuel companies are severely underreporting their methane emissions, stating that “methane emissions implied by existing oil and gas company reporting are 95% lower than the IEA’s estimate for 2023.”
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EurActiv, 10 May 2024: Public development banks should not prop up the fossil fuel industry
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