Coal Action Network Aotearoa sharply criticised the Climate Change Commission’s decision to double projected coal use in 2050 in its final advice to the Government, released today.

“The Climate Change Commission’s final advice to the Government is full of brave words about the need to phase out coal,” said Coal Action Network Aotearoa spokesperson Tim Jones. “But brave words mean nothing without the determination to act – and since its draft report, it looks like the Commission’s nerve has failed.”

“In the draft advice, the Commission showed coal use continuing at 10 PJ/yr right up to 2050. Continuing to use coal, the world’s most dangerous fossil fuel, up to 2050 is utterly irresponsible in a climate emergency. CANA wants coal phased out by 2027.”

“But the final advice is even worse. It appears NZ Steel have got in the Commission’s ear and persuaded the Commission that their antiquated, polluting technology should be allowed to continue at even higher levels past 2050 – in fact, at twice the level in the draft advice.”

“This is terrible advice,” Tim Jones said. “Alternatives to using coal to make steel exist, and will be available well before 2050. This backsliding by the Commission shows that we need as a country to have a real debate about alternatives for coal for high-temperature industrial processes, instead of allowing vested interests like NZ Steel to sweet-talk the Commission into allowing coal a future that is bad for Aotearoa and bad for the planet.”

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PRESS RELEASE

“We’re disappointed and frustrated at the lack of urgency in the Government’s Emissions Reduction Plan discussion document,” said Tim Jones of Coal Action Network Aotearoa, the national group campaigning for an end to coal mining and use in Aotearoa.

“In fact, this isn’t even a plan – it’s a grab-bag of generally underwhelming proposals submitted by Ministers and Ministries. None reflect the urgency of the climate crisis, especially given the government has declared a Climate Emergency.”

“Agriculture, which represents almost 50% of New Zealand’s emissions, is dealt with in just four pages – that tells you all you need to know about the Government’s lack of climate ambition, and the Minister of Agriculture’s refusal to cooperate with the Government’s emissions reduction goals.”

“Coal is the highest-emitting fossil fuel, yet this draft document would let coal mining and burning continue for decades,” Tim Jones said.

“The Government is still giving big industrial emitters massive subsidies, in the form of free industrial allocations of carbon credits under the Emissions Trading Scheme, paid for by taxpayers, to keep burning coal and other fossil fuels: there’s no commitment to phase out those subsidies.

“The Government is also continuing to let Fonterra set the timetable for phasing out industrial coal boilers, instead of telling Fonterra to shape up. Letting big emitters continue to burn coal as long as they want isn’t a plan – it’s a failure of policy and a failure of nerve.”

“Aotearoa needs and deserves vision and leadership on climate action and climate justice,” Tim Jones said. “We need a real plan of action, with a strategy, milestones, and measurable deliverables.”

“The Prime Minister has spoken frequently about her commitment to strong action on climate change. This draft document shows that all too many of her Ministers don’t share that commitment.

It’s up to the community to step into the breach during the submission period and make it impossible for the Government to ignore the clamour for real, meaningful, measurable emissions reductions – and it’s up to the Prime Minister to get her Ministers on board and in line.

Let’s turn this into a real plan to reduce emissions and respond to the climate emergency.”

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The Government’s latest efforts to tackle emissions from coal are not the kind of bold action required to get New Zealand onto a net zero emissions pathway, and disappointingly leaves the door open for gas, says Coal Action Network Aotearoa.

While the group welcomed today’s announcement of a ban on new coal boilers from the end of this year, allowing bigger users to carry on using coal as process heat for another 16 years (to 2037) is way too late.

“The second round of grants announced to reduce coal use, while welcome, would save around 150,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide a year, but Fonterra pumps out half a million tonnes every year to make its coal-fired milk powder exports,” said Cindy Baxter a CANA spokesperson.

CANA is particularly concerned about language in the Government’s announcement that still leaves the door wide open to gas, where it says “An option proposed is to also prohibit other new fossil fuel boilers where suitable alternative technology exists and it is economically viable.”

“Fonterra has already stated in its submission to the Climate Change Commission that it wants to maintain its use of gas while it phases out coal, but gas is also a problem: from production to burning, gas leaks, and if you count those fugitive emissions, there’s little difference from coal.”

CANA calls on the government to impose an immediate ban on new coal-fired boilers, rather than waiting until the end of the year, and to bring forward the date of coal phase-out to 2027.

CORRECTION: This press release has been amended. 

Fonterra got in touch with us to say that it will not be building any new gas boilers:  its submission to the Climate Change Commission stressed that it wanted to keep using the gas that it already burns while it makes the switch from coal.

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“This could spell the end of cheap coal for Fonterra’s Canterbury operations, and should give the company an opportunity to make the switch away from coal, the world’s dirtiest fossil fuel,” said Cindy Baxter, a CANA spokesperson.

Fonterra’s Darfield dairy factory has two large, relatively new coal boilers, totalling 75MW, and burns around 90,000 tonnes of coal a year to dry milk powder for export. Last year Coal Action Network, alongside Extinction Rebellion Ōtautahi, blocked the mine to protest the expansion.

CANA and XR Ōtautahi blockade at Bathurst Canterbury Coal mine blockade, September 2020.

“Against the background of the Climate Change Commission recommending the dairy industry gets out of coal by 2037, the closure of this mine provides yet another incentive for Fonterra to dump coal, and make the switch to biomass, but of course the impact on climate change should be incentive enough,” said Baxter.

Bathurst Resources was in the middle of an application to extend the mine, but the application process had reached a sticking point.  It was being extraordinarily recalcitrant with Environment Canterbury over its refusal to accept that it was mining far more coal than it had consent for.  Over the past five years it had been fined for 28 breaches involving runoff into the local stream, threatening the habitat of the endangered Canterbury mudfish.

A Selwyn District Council report showed It had also committed numerous breaches of noise, truck movements, lights at night, dust and mining of more coal than it was allowed. Bathurst disputed this, and was also refusing to provide information to the councils as part of its application.

“One wonders whether the negotiations with ECAN over these breaches and the cost of compliance made the coal too expensive to mine,” said Baxter.

The Overseas Investment Office gave the green light for this Australian company to purchase land for its mine extension, something it should never have done in light of the illegality of its operations there.

“At the end of the day, an end to this coal mine could serve to drive up the price of thermal coal in Aotearoa and, in climate change terms, every closed coal mine is a good coal mine.  Now, we look to Fonterra to dump coal altogether, and make the switch.”

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26 July 2020– Coal Action Network Aotearoa today gave a cautious welcome to the Government’s announcement of a $70 million investment to increase electrification of industrial and process heat in the lower South Island.

“Continued mining and burning of coal and other fossil fuels in the midst of a climate crisis is criminal,” said Tim Jones of Coal Action Network Aotearoa. “So we welcome the news that the Government is making a commitment to replace coal-burning heat plant in the South Island with renewable sources of energy.”

“However, major concerns remain. Firstly, we have too many cows, polluting too much water and using way too much synthetic fertiliser – all of which is a major contributor to the country’s greenhouse gas emissions. Along with replacing coal, we need to be moving agriculture away from the present industrial dairying model which has done so much harm.

Secondly, using biomass sourced from wood waste is another source of renewable energy provided forests are replanted – and it frees up electricity for other uses. We hope the Government will not neglect the role of sustainably sourced biomass in replacing fossil fuels.”

Turning to the Government’s announcement of a $30 million investigation into a pumped hydro storage scheme at Lake Onslow, Tim Jones said “We do need more storage so we can shut down Huntly’s coal plant, and we shouldn’t even be thinking about new gas as backup, but we are being cautious right now because we are unclear about the impacts, including the effect on the Teviot flathead, a highly endangered native galaxiid fish. Also, the water from this scheme must not be used for irrigation to create yet more dairy farms in country that is not suitable for dairying.”

“Is it time we stopped mining and burning coal in Aotearoa? Absolutely. But in replacing coal, we need to make sure that we’re not creating other environmental problems,” said Tim Jones.

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9 July 2020–The announced closure of Tiwai Point is welcome news for the clean energy future of New Zealand, and presents huge opportunities in areas such as electrifying transport and developing new, high-tech industries, Coal Action Network Aotearoa said today.

Provided this is not a negotiating tactic, Tiwai’s shutdown should see the closing of the country’s only coal-fired power station at Huntly, which Meridian persuaded Genesis to keep it open as part of the deal it did with Rio Tinto in 2016.

Will this be the end of the Huntly coal-fired power station?

“We now have a massive opportunity to look at where and how we will use the renewable energy that will be freed up: we could electrify the South Island’s rail network, and make huge steps toward electric transport,” said CANA’s Rosemary Penwarden.

Once the smelter is closed, New Zealand’s emissions will drop by upwards of 1.5 million tonnes a year, emissions the taxpayer has been subsidising NZ Aluminium Smelters for.
“At today’s carbon price of $33, the 1.3 million units the company received for free last year would this year cost the taxpayer $42.9 million: we trust the government will use this huge saving to work toward meeting our zero carbon goal,” said Penwarden.

CANA warned against big process heat users like Fonterra converting to electricity for its South Island coal boilers as using electricity this way is massively inefficient, and Fonterra needed to be looking to biomass to switch to.

“We don’t want to lock ourselves into a system that would require new thermal electricity – like the gas-fired power stations being built right now in Taranaki. These should stop,” said Penwarden.

“Today, there are going to be a lot of Southland families wondering about their futures. It’s crucial the Government provides support to Southlanders to transition towards a resilient low-carbon economy. Great South has already been doing a lot of work transitioning away from fossil fuels, and creating jobs in renewables. This experience will stand them in good stead to deal with this new challenge.”

CANA also warned that the Government must make NZ Aluminium / Rio Tinto fully pay for the clean-up of the site and ensure there was full remediation, not least because the plant is right next to an internationally-recognised conservation site.

“We have already seen part of Rio Tinto’s toxic legacy being nearly swept away in the Mataura floods, and the taxpayer is being forced to pay.  There is an unfortunate recent history of toxic remediation being left to the government to pay for, and we absolutely cannot let this happen here,” she said.

“Rio Tinto has a very poor international reputation as a good environmental citizen, and we must hold them to account to exit cleanly.”

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If a coal miner – today given a green light to purchase sensitive Canterbury land for its coal –  thinks it will be able to build a new coal mine it is likely to face serious opposition, Coal Action Network Aotearoa said today.

The OIO has today given clearance for foreign-owned Bathurst Resources to buy 31ha of land near Glentunnel, where it says it wants to extend the current Canterbury Coal mine to continue supplying dairy factories. Its subsidiary, Canterbury Coal, produced 142,000 tonnes of coal from the area in the year to June 2019, 65,000 tonnes of which went to Fonterra’s Darfield factory (1).

108 Bush Gully Road, Glentunnel, where the OIO has just given Bathurst the green light to purchase 31.5 ha of land for coal mining.

“It’s like we’re living in two alternate realities: one where we’re having this generation’s ‘nuclear free moment’ on climate change, and the other is simply accelerated business as usual,” said Cindy Baxter of Coal Action Network Aotearoa.

“Along with polluting our waterways, Canterbury’s dirty dairy factories continue to pump carbon into the atmosphere, but this cannot go on, and we – as well as the government – need to draw a line in the sand,” she said.

“Getting New Zealand onto a 1.5˚C pathway means we have to stop burning coal, and stop new coal mines. There’s a huge concern about Canterbury’s coal use and Bathurst can expect massive opposition to this mine.”

She repeated the call recently made to Environment Minister David Parker by 42 organisations to amend the Resource Management Act remove the clause that specifically prevents any consideration of climate impacts in granting resource consents. The RMA amendment legislation was introduced last week with no sign of any such change.

“We need a whole of government approach to climate change. This should start with decisions made by the OIO and extend through the RMA and any other government decisions that could lead to our emissions continuing to rise,” said Cindy Baxter.

NOTE:
The NZ dairy industry is the country’s second largest coal user after the Steel Mill at Glenbrook.
Glenbrook:  800,000 tonnes
Dairy:  665,875 tonnes
Huntly coal plant:  430,000 tonnes

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Writing in Newsroom, Jeanette Fitzsimons and Cindy Baxter of CANA have exposed a major impediment to reducing NZ’s carbon emissions.

The post A major loophole threatens the Zero Carbon bill appeared first on Coal Action Network Aotearoa.

The report, just released today, says C02 emissions need to be cut in half in the next ten years, and that – for the best chance of limiting warming to 1.5˚C – the world must cut primary energy from coal by 78% by 2030, and altogether by 2050.   This essentially means New Zealand must not contemplate building any new gas peaking plants, and needs to shut Huntly.

 It also notes that the adverse impacts from climate change will be far worse at 2˚C of warming than 1.5˚.  The IPCC SR1.5 has also stated that non-C02 greenhouse gases like methane need to be cut by 35% by 2050 – from 2010 levels. But it is also very clear that early action will be less dangerous and expensive than leaving it until mid-century. 

“Today’s report shows that limiting warming to 1.5˚C is feasible, but that strong action needs to happen right now.  This should be ringing in the ears of our Climate Change Minister James Shaw as he negotiates the Zero Carbon Act with the Opposition,” said CANA spokesperson Cindy Baxter. “He cannot cave to special interests over science.  This report should bolster his case for strong and early action.”

“The next ten years in terms of climate action are crucial.  Farmers are often among the worst-hit by climate change, so it’s in their own interests to look at making deep cuts in methane, and soon,” said CANA spokesperson Jeanette Fitzsimons.

“Fonterra, our second-largest coal user – has already committed to continue building coal-fired boilers until 2030.  This is simply too late.  The IPCC report gives greater urgency for Fonterra to dump all plans for coal boilers and look instead to the lucrative wood waste market for their future energy.  The sooner they move, the better off we’ll all be,” she said.

Link to Summary for Policymakers

IPCC SR15 special page (full report available) 

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The decision to protect a section of the West Coast’s Mt Rochfort Conservation area from becoming a coal mine – announced today by the Government – will come as an enormous relief to a lot of New Zealanders, Coal Action Network Aotearoa (CANA) said today.

“This is a victory for the thousands who opposed this mine from across the country, for the precious ecosystem on the mountain, and for the climate,” said CANA’s Cindy Baxter.

Earlier this year CANA, with 350.org, delivered a 6000-strong petition to the Ministers involved in the decision: Hon Meghan Woods and Hon Eugenie Sage, urging them to protect the area.

The Te Kuha Mine Site as it would be seen from Westport – top of the ridge is now protected.

“We know the Government has a new policy to protect conservation land from mining, but they still had to make this decision within the restrictions of a law designed under a different policy.  It’s great However, it was clear from the outset that this 12ha area was of outstanding conservation value,” she said.

The 12ha section at Te Kuha was at the top of the mountain, and part of a wider, 109ha mine footprint.  From the 2015 DOC assessment (see page 10 – and a map on page 9) it was clear the mine site would be visible from downtown Westport, and from the hugely popular tourist road through the Buller Gorge.  The company, Rangitira Developments, had applied to DOC for access in early 2016, but the decision was delayed.

Meanwhile, late last year the Buller District Council granted Rangitira Developments a consent to mine the bulk of the 109ha footprint, in the Westport Water Conservation Area.

Forest & Bird (joined by CANA, and the Department of Conservation) have appealed it to the Environment Court, which will hear the case late next month.  The Department of Conservation originally made a very neutral submission to the Council, but is now appealing the decision.

“Stevenson’s mining has said it cannot proceed if DOC declined its application so we will soon find out whether that was just bluff to pressure a decision in their favour,” said Baxter.

“But meanwhile we – and the kiwi and gecko and this beautiful area – are celebrating.”

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