"The impacts of climate change are already affecting the people
and economies of Thailand and Southeast Asia. But instead of
grasping the urgency and promoting solutions, the Ministry of
Energy is going in the opposite direction by allowing the expansion
of coal projects, such as the newly-built BLCP coal power plant.
Other culprits of these policies are international funding
institutions like the Asian Development Bank and Japan Bank for
International Cooperation, which blatantly disregard the negative
impacts of their dirty projects across Asia," said Tara Buakamsri
of Greenpeace Southeast Asia.
Yesterday amidst heavy police presence and BLCP personnel
carrying sticks, Greenpeace shut down the port of the controversial
BLCP coal plant to prevent the 170,000-tonne carrier, MV Star
Europe, from unloading its Australian coal cargo into Thailand.
The controversial BLCP coal plant is expected to emit 22.4 million
tons of carbon dioxide over the next 20 years, contributing
significantly to climate change. In addition, the external cost of
a power station includes the impacts on human health, building
materials, food crops, amenity loss and the ecosystems due to the
atmospheric and sewage release from the power stations based on
studies by the European Commission. Using the EU calculation
method, BLCP's external costs will amount to Bt65,066,720,000
(aroundUS$1,626,668,000) per year.
"These huge external costs are hidden behind that dirty smoke,
subsidized by the ADB, JBIC and the Thai Government -- meaning, by
the Thai people," said Tara. "As leaders converge in Finland for
the Asia Europe Meeting (ASEM) it will be beneficial that
governments decisively stop the expansion and funding of fossil
projects across Asia and Europe and invest in renewables to curb
climate change."
Leaders of state and ministers are meeting this week for the
sixth ASEM, which has acknowledged the importance of climate change
and is at the top of the agenda.
"Now leaders of Europe and Asia must recognize that unless they
stop European and Asian Governments from financing dirty energy
sources such as the BLCP coal plant in Thailand, they are
responsible for fuelling the effects of dangerous climate change
and sending Asia deeper into its addiction to fossil fuels. Finance
must now be invested into clean energy systems such as solar and
wind," said Athena Ronquillo-Ballesteros, head of the Greenpeace
International delegation at ASEM.
Greenpeace is an independent, campaigning organisation, which uses non-violent, creative confrontation to expose global environmental problems, and to force the solutions, which are essential to a green
and peaceful future.