Standard Chartered & ECAs ‘breaching climate policy’ with Vietnam coal plant investment

(Climate Home News, London, 14 February 2018) The London-based bank plans to co-finance Nghi Son 2 power plant, which NGOs say uses dirty old technology, against company and OECD guidelines. The proposed financing arrangements also appear to breach the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development’s guidelines on coal, which restrict governments from using public export finance for new coal plants. Both Japan's and Korea’s export credit agencies, which help companies to export and win international business, are backing the project. Environmental NGOs Market Forces and Greenpeace analysed data from the project’s environmental impact assessment,  released last week by Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) — an export credit agency wholly owned by the Japanese government. Vietnam’s expansion of coal-fired power generation to meet booming energy demand has led to major concerns over public health. The number of coal plants in Vietnam is projected to rise from 38 to 133, including all plants currently planned or under construction. Citing a study published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology  last year, Myllyvirta said coal-fired power plants were responsible for an estimated 4,300 premature deaths in Vietnam in 2011 alone. The study forecasts that by 2030 there will be more than 19,220 deaths per year due to coal pollution.