This is rather a brief comment zooming into the circumstances under which we decided to leave the Czech Coal Commission.
Minister Havlíček proved last Friday that having the Greenpeace Czech Republic and the Green Circle (Association of Ecological NGOs in the Czech Republic) as members of the Commission was solely a greenwashing move. Proceeding the vote without any appropriate social, economic, and climate impact analysis and overtaking the discussion by not allowing to vote for other scenarios, except for his own proposal, cannot be accepted as a sign of goodwill. I want to thank Jan Rovenský (Greenpeace Czech Republic) and Jiří Koželouh (Hnutí Duha, member of the Commission on behalf of the Green Circle) for their tremendous work in the Commission over the last year. Their hard work and endeavor brought us closer to our goal; changed the initial proposal for the 2050 phase-out to 2038. Unfortunately, even 2038 is too late.
The European Council will decide this Thursday and Friday to reduce more EU emissions by 2030. This decision will likely make it impossible for the Czech Republic to adhere to the Coal Commission’s recommendations. Moreover, the price of coal combustion (CO2 allowance) will most probably rise very quickly above the level at which it is economically advantageous to operate coal power plants.
Under these circumstances, there is no reason to remain in the Commission. The approved recommendation is crossing a line, has no scientific base, and the authoritarian approach of Mr. Havlíček as a Chair is unacceptable. Despite everything, we will continue our work to secure Paris Agreement goals by focusing on the Government and the Parliament’s work. Thanks to all our allies who are standing behind us.