Posted on June, 27 2016

The International Energy Agency (IEA) has today (27 June 2016) issued a new report – Energy and Air Pollution - calling for pragmatic actions and policies to be implemented to cut pollution by more than half, mainly through determined actions by the energy sector.
 
Responding to the report, Dr Stephan Singer, director of global energy policy for WWF’s Global Climate and Energy Initiative said the report highlights the huge and deadly impact of burning fossil fuels, mainly coal and oil, which pollutes the air, causing the deaths of more than three million people each year.
 
“While the IEA makes a case for how the energy sector can reduce pollution significantly by improving policies, targets and monitoring, they miss the most important conclusion   – that we need to phase out coal as soon as possible in the next 20 years, and move to a fully renewable energy-based energy system globally.”
 
He said this would be in line with the recently approved Paris Agreement on climate change which aims to reduce global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
 
“Coal and oil cannot be made ‘clean’. Even if conventional and deadly pollutants are reduced, they still emit CO_2, the largest offender for a safe climate system.”

For further information, contact:
Mandy Jean Woods mwoods@wwf.org.za / +27 72 393 0027