Coal-dependent Chile vows to eradicate fuel by 2040

(Climate Change News, 4 Jun 2019) Chile vowed to go carbon neutral by 2050 on Tuesday, in a plan hailed by experts as one of the most ambitious yet for a coal-dependent economy.

The host of the next UN climate talks in December president Sebastian Piñera pledged to close eight of the country’s 28 coal-fired plants by 2024.

The move would slash the share of coal within the electricity grid from 40% to 20% in five years, with a view to phasing out the fuel completely by 2040.

Under the Paris Agreement the country promised to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 30% by 2030 from a base year of 2007.

“We are going to deliver this pledge,” Piñera said. “The steps that we are announcing are the concrete and real way we will turn words and pledges into facts and reality.”

Although Chile represents a mere 0.25% of global emissions, the country is one of the 10 most vulnerable nations to climate change, Pinera noted in his annual address to the nation on Monday.

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Climate Change News, 4 Jun 2019: Coal-dependent Chile vows to eradicate fuel by 2040