December 25, 2015

Could climate change deal undermine Myanmar’s gas wealth?

Developing countries such as Myanmar will face increasing difficulty expanding their electricity supply using conventional fossil fuels oil, gas and coal, it emerged last week during the global climate change conference in France.

An agreement on curbing global warming could undermine the potential national wealth from hoped for natural gas beneath Myanmar’s territorial waters of the Bay of Bengal, where 20 blocks have been leased to international oil companies for exploration.

If the UN-led conference agrees on tough measures to hold global warming below a 2C increase the commercial viability of hundreds of billions of dollars’ worth of planned investments in fossil fuels in Asia would be undermined, some experts asserted.

It would also undermine bank and institutional investor support for coal-fuelled power plants – the favoured quick fix being sought by countries from the Philippines to India to overcome acute electricity shortages, a special report in the Asia Power Monitor said.

A study by the London-based Carbon Tracker Initiative (CTI) warned that more than US$300 billion worth of fossil fuel investments in Asia is at risk of being wasted if the UN conference agrees on global CO2 limits.

The independent research think tank suggests that plans by numerous companies and countries for oil, gas and coal developments would be rendered obsolete. (Courtesy of Mizzima)

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