Orano warns of financial problems at Niger uranium plant
The West African nation increasingly seeks new partners, such as Russia, in its mining sector.
The UK has announced that it will not be funding any new coal-fired power plants in developing countries. Speaking at the United Nations climate talks in Warsaw on Wednesday, energy secretary Ed Davey said that it was “illogical” for developed countries to decarbonize their energy sectors while funding coal power abroad.
“It undermines global efforts to prevent dangerous climate change and stores up a future financial time bomb for those countries [where they are built],” Davey said as reported earlier by MINING.com.
The UK is not alone in taking money out of coal. The US and several other European countries have also made the pledge; Germany and Japan have not.
It’s been a tough couple of weeks for the coal industry as talks in Warsaw progressed. On Monday UN climate chief Christina Figueres said that that “most existing coal reserves will have to stay in the ground.”
According to the Phys.org, coal accounted for 44% of CO2 emissions in 2011. The International Energy Agency says it provides 40% of the world’s electricity.
