Oxfam takes on E.ON

From flooding in coastal areas of Bangladesh, to the worst floods in Africa in 30 years, the effects of climate change are already kicking in, and it's poor people who are being hit first and worst.

A clean, low-carbon future is needed. Yet despite this, energy giant E.ON are pushing to invest in new coal at Kingsnorth, Kent.

Read the email exchange between Kate Geary, Oxfam climate change policy advisor, and Paul Golby, E.ON chief executive, below.

Paul Golby (E.ON): E.ON places tackling climate change at the very heart of our business, which is why we are investing billions of pounds to deliver a sustainable energy future for the UK. As a large energy company, we are often viewed as part of the problem, but we believe we have the expertise to deliver real solutions to these issues so we are starting to shape a new future for society.

Kate Geary (Oxfam): We welcome E.ON's stated commitment to tackling climate change and its investments in renewable energy generation. However, the simple fact is that committing to new coal will guarantee high emissions.

E.ON's promises to build Kingsnorth "carbon capture ready" are worth little more than hot air. "CCS ready" merely means setting a field aside for a possible future unit. As a colleague from WWF has pointed out, "my driveway is Ferrari-ready: doesn't mean I'm ever going to get one!"

Additionally, even if Kingsnorth were to win the Government's CCS competition, it would only capture a small fraction of the plant's massive emissions (only applying to 300MW of the plant's total of 1,600MW).

Climate change has a disproportionate effect on the lives of people living in poverty. Floods are washing homes away and parents are finding it harder to feed their children as they no longer know when to plant crops due to increasingly unpredictable seasons. New unabated coal at Kingsnorth is clearly not the answer when the world desperately needs a shift to a low carbon future.

Paul Golby (E.ON): What is clear, however, is that, as well as delivering a low carbon future, we must also do our best to ensure that the lights remain on and that energy is available at a price that is affordable.

Kate Geary (Oxfam): New coal is simply not needed. Recent research by Greenpeace, WWF and leading energy consultants, Pöyry, shows that if the Government were to achieve its existing targets for renewable energy generation, and increased energy efficiency, there would be no energy gap. Some energy companies, such as E.ON, argue that in 2020 there will be an energy gap of approximately 20 gigawatts. However, 30 gigawatts have either been approved or are in advanced development from gas and renewable energy. Centrica, another of the UK's top six power companies and one of E.ON's main competitors, has also ruled out investing in new unabated coal.

E.ON is right to raise the issue of fuel cost, but is misguided in its solution. Rising fuel costs are a crucial issue today, especially this winter, when over five million households in the UK will be in fuel poverty. As E.ON knows, tinkering with the fuel generation mix is not the most effective way to bring down household bills. People's fuel bills fall when their homes are better insulated and more efficiently heated.

Paul Golby (E.ON): I agree that this a defining point in energy history but unfortunately there is no silver bullet and we need to be honest about that fact. I firmly believe it is our responsibility to embrace a diverse energy future for the UK that includes the development of new renewables, coal, gas and nuclear projects that will stop us becoming over-reliant on any one fuel source or technology.

Kate Geary (Oxfam): We are indeed at a "defining point in energy history" but it should be seen as an opportunity to right our energy supply and boost efficiency so that we can tackle climate change and begin to stem its devastating impacts which are already being experienced by millions of poor people around the world. New unabated coal would be a giant step backwards.

Paul Golby (E.ON): The decision to pursue the development of new coal units at Kingsnorth has not been made lightly. It is our hope that we will make Kingsnorth the world's first large scale demonstration carbon capture and storage (CCS) plant, which is why we are taking part in the UK Government's competition and plan to build the units 'carbon capture ready.'

Kate Geary (Oxfam): It is not good enough to make the critical decision to invest £1.7 billion in new coal at Kingsnorth, with only the "hope" that emissions may be tackled at some point in the future. The plain fact is that there is no guarantee that CCS will ever be fitted to Kingsnorth: E.ON itself has refused to commit to any such guarantee.

It would be foolish to rely on CSS being ready in time to deliver the immediate cuts in CO2 that climate scientists say we urgently need. Until such time as CCS becomes a reality, tried and tested technologies for energy efficiency and delivering renewable energy must be prioritised and expanded as quickly as possible.

Paul Golby (E.ON): Most scientists agree that CCS would help the world reduce its carbon emissions - in fact, current development suggests it can cut emissions by over 90 per cent. But before this benefit can be delivered in practice, someone needs to complete the development of this technology on a working power station. This is what we plan to do. And once CCS technology is demonstrated - and I have no doubt that it will work - it can be applied to power stations in other countries, allowing us to 'export' carbon reduction worldwide.

Kate Geary (Oxfam): How E.ON can claim that developing CCS on a working power station "is what we plan to do" is a mystery. The company has consistently refused to guarantee that it will ever fit CCS to Kingsnorth, and has lobbied the government directly to ensure that its approval of Kingsnorth is not conditional upon mandatory CCS. See Oxfam's review of UK progress on tackling climate change for more.

The only way to guarantee the cuts in emissions needed if we are to avoid disastrous climate change is not to build new coal, such as Kingsnorth. Low carbon solutions are already available and we need companies like E.ON to make the right choices today for a fairer, safer future for tomorrow.

Related links

• Take action: stop E.ON changing energy for the worse
• Have your say: new coal power in the UK