Bangladesh seen as climate threat by boosting coal reliance

(Reuters News, 6 Nov 2019) About 3% of the country's power comes from coal, but plans to build 29 coal plants in the next two decades would increase this to 35%, government data shows.

A Bangladeshi plan to burn more coal for power will worsen global warming in a nation already battered by climate crises from floods to cyclones, according to a report out on Wednesday.

About 3% of the country's power comes from coal, but plans to build 29 coal-based power plants in the next two decades will increase this to 35%, according to government data, in what the report called a clear threat to the environment.

"We are passed the point where any new coal power station could be considered compatible with the Paris climate goals," said Julien Vincent, executive director of Australian-based environment group Market Forces, which published the report with an international climate movement called 350.org.

"There is simply no way to square coal expansion with commitments to limit global warming to 1.5°C."

Under the Paris accord, 200 countries agreed on a binding global compact to slash greenhouse gases and keep global temperature increases "well below" 2 degrees Celsius.

Nearly one in three children in Bangladesh are at risk from climate change-linked disasters, the United Nations says.

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Reuters News, 6 Nov 2019: Bangladesh seen as climate threat by boosting coal reliance