Written by: Kimberly White

During the United Nations climate change conference COP24, the Scottish Government announced their intention to join the Powering Past Coal Alliance.

The Powering Past Coal Alliance is a global alliance of national and sub-national governments, businesses and organizations focused on transitioning away from coal power and accelerating clean growth and climate protection. The Powering Past Coal Alliance launched during November of last year in Bonn, Germany.

Governments who join the global alliance make a commitment to phase out existing unabated coal power generation and to a moratorium on new traditional coal power stations without operational carbon capture and storage. All signatories make the commitment to support clean power generation through policies and investments.

Roseanna Cunningham – SNP – Perthshire South and Kinross-shire May 2016. Pic – Andrew Cowan/Scottish Parliament

Scottish Environment Secretary Roseanna Cunningham said:

“The Scottish Government’s intention to join the Powering Past Coal Alliance signals our continued support for global efforts to phase out coal power, to meet our commitment to keep global temperature increase well below 2°C and to pursue efforts to limit it to 1.5°C.

“We are already meeting the goals of the Alliance. Unabated coal power generation has been stopped in Scotland, with the last coal power station closing in 2016, and should there ever be any new application then it must have carbon capture and storage technology.

“We already share our experience of delivering ambitious climate change and clean energy action with international partners and will continue to do so through our membership of this Alliance.”

The Scottish Government joins the Powering Past Coal Alliance’s eighty members.

For more information, please visit the Government of Scotland and the Powering Past Coal Alliance.

Header Image Credit: Paisley Scotland