The Czech government is in danger of looking out of touch at the upcoming EU council meeting, as its coal commission is homing in on a post-2030 phase out that would undermine Czech prime minister Andrej Babiš’s recent commitment to increasing the EU’s climate target to 55 percent by 2030.
Like its German counterpart, the Czech coal commission is exploring several coal phase out scenarios, encompassing 2033, 2038, and 2043. Studies show that the country can achieve a 2030 transition from coal to renewables, and that there is overwhelming public support to do so. The dates under discussion by the Czech coal commission are already out of step with this, and will invariably need to be accelerated even more to secure a more robust EU climate target.
“The Czech coal commission still doesn’t have all the expert materials needed to decide about the coal phase out, yet Minister Havlíček is preemptively calling for 2038 to be the default phase out date decision,” said Jiří Koželouh from Hnutí DUHA (Friends of the Earth Czech Republic), a member of the coal commission for the Green Circle – association of Czech environmental NGOs. “This is undemocratic pandering to the coal industry, and an embarrassment for Prime Minister Babiš, all so ČEZ and local coal barons can delay the inevitable closure of their polluting plants.”
To highlight the influence of industry on the Coal commission process, environmental organisations Hnutí DUHA (Friends of the Earth Czech Republic) and Greenpeace today published a coal plant shut-down list, which was not created by the coal commission itself in the past due to opposition from coal utilities. The list ranks the proposed shutdown order for plants, according to emissions intensity criteria approved by the Commission. ČEZ plants occupy the earliest three spots.
“If prime minister Babiš is honest about wanting faster emissions reductions, then he needs to tell his Minister of Industry and Trade, Karel Havlíček, to not undermine him ahead of the EU Council,” said Lukáš Hrábek, press officer for Greenpeace Czech Republic. “Focusing on post 2030 coal phase out dates will set the Czech Republic up to fail its emissions reductions commitments, and make a mess of its energy transition. Workers and communities will ultimately pay the price.”
“A decision to phase out coal will be a tremendous leap forward for the Czech Republic, but its coal commission is in danger of making the same mistakes as its German counterpart,” said Mahi Sideridou, Europe Beyond Coal managing director. “The coal industry is collapsing all across Europe, and improvements to EU climate policies underline that a 2030 coal phase is now unavoidable. Germany’s coal phase date is already being outpaced by reality, and should serve as a warning, not a model.”