Going green will starve poor countries of greenbacks

The hype of solar and wind powers denies poor African, Asian and Latin American countries economic opportunities, chance for higher standards of living.

Published Thu, Mar 1, 2018 · 09:50 PM

Fossil fuels

IN January this year, The Straits Times ran a story about how Singapore's three leading banks were financing coal power plant projects despite climate change risks. These banks provided over US$2 billion to fund 21 coal power projects since 2012, mainly in Indonesia and Vietnam.

Not long after the article was published, a coalition of environmental non-government organisations (NGOs) including Greenpeace and Friends Of The Earth called on the banks to "end financing of the highly polluting coal-fired power stations in South-east Asia".

EcoBusiness, the region's leading environment and business media organisation, headlined its article on the issue Funding Coal In Southeast Asia Is 'Collective Suicide', Say Experts.