Media coverage

The world’s solar future continues to brighten, further and faster than seemed possible only a few years ago. As the price of all types of solar technology goes on falling, it is becoming possible for large parts of the world to replace fossil fuels with cleaner and cheaper solar alternatives. A UN-backed report says much of Asia could meet all its electricity needs and ditch coal completely, by adopting solar power on a large scale.

A new report is urging countries in South and Southeast Asia to reverse their plans for coal-fired power plant expansion in favor of renewable energy.The report, released by the research institute Climate Analytics, said shifting away from coal will not only support the Paris Agreement's climate goals, but renewables such as solar and wind are a lower-cost energy source for developing countries.

Countries in South and Southeast Asia must end their reliance on coal power plants and switch to clean energy in order to meet pledges to curb climate change and tackle air pollution, researchers said on Thursday. A study from Climate Analytics warned that failure to do so threatened a global goal to limit warming.

Home to more than 2.5 billion people, countries in South and Southeast Asia will need to decarbonize their energy systems by 2050 through rapid increase of renewable energy use in line with the long-term temperature goal of 1.5 degrees Celsius of the Paris Agreement on climate change.

Eight of the EU's 28 member countries aim to phase out coal-powered electricity by 2030. This means that 40 percent of current capacity will still be online in 2030. "This is highly inconsistent with the Paris Agreement, which requires a full phase out in the EU by 2030," said Paola Yanguas Parra from Climate Analytics.

This ABC Four Corners program investigates whether Australia is on track to deliver on the targets the nation has pledged to fulfil, and what effect the policies of successive governments have had on its emissions. Program features Climate Analytics CEO Bill Hare.

A damning report from international research firm Climate Analytics is lending substantial weight to the argument that Australia needs to improve its scorecard on clean transport. Pollution from light passenger vehicles and heavy transport is soaring, the report shows, up 57% in 2017 since 1990 and projected to rise to 82% from 1990 levels by the end of the decade.

“Australia is almost alone in not having any motor vehicle emissions standards for carbon dioxide and/or vehicle efficiency standards for litres per 100km. That means that vehicles in Australia are much more inefficient and more costly to run than in the US or Europe or Japan.” - Bill Hare, CEO of Climate Analytics

"It really is time that governments stopped trying to find more ways to offset their fossil fuel emissions through, for example, protecting seagrass and mangroves in coastal areas," says Bill Hare, chief executive officer of Climate Analytics. "They do need protection, but if that work is then used to offset emissions, then ultimately the resulting warming will kill them. We need a clear firewall between these two activities."

In 2038, the last coal-fired power plant in Germany is to be taken off the grid. Scientists answer the key question: Is the coal commission's plan sufficient to meet the Paris climate treaty?