Coals from South Africa
In 2009, the South African NGO EMG inspected the area surrounding the 'Transvaal and Delagoa Bay' mine in Witbank. The mine was closed and the area was left behind in devastation. Coal fires still burn in underground passages, releasing toxic fumes through holes in the ground. The people who live around the mine run serious health risks. Water flows with toxic heavy metals from the mine run into the 'Brugspruit' river, which has already caused the deaths of many fish and crocodiles in the nearby Loskop Dam Nature Reserve. Clearing up is expensive. The cost of the removal of poisons and the replanting of old mines in South Africa is estimated at 14 billion US dollars. But who will pay? Up to now, the cost of our coal has been paid for by the South African people.

The real cost of coal
To calculate the actual cost of coal as a fuel, one has to consider the entire chain and not just the effects of combustion, such as CO2 emissions. The whole process should be taken into the cost equation - from the extraction of coal to the transportation and incineration thereof.

Both ENDS believes that it should be mandatory for Dutch energy companies to report on the local impacts of coal mining. The entire production chain should be financially transparent.

The energy sector has launched initiatives to clean up the use of coal. But what about the problems in South Africa, Colombia and Indonesia? Don't coal customers have a responsibility for the negative effects caused by coal mining? What role can the Dutch government play?

Panel

• Matthews Hlabane, The Green Revolutionary Council, Witbank, South Africa

• Janine de Vries, Cordaid-Publish What You Pay Coalition, The Netherlands
• Marga Edens, Manager Corporate Social Responsibility Essent, The Netherlands

• A representative of the Dutch government will join Matthews Hlabane, Janine de Vries and Marga Edens in the debate.
  

Have a drink and discuss these issues at the informal Political Café drinks reception to be held after the debate.