Christian Aid is dismayed at strong signals from business secretary John Hutton that the government supports the building of a new generation of coal-fired power stations in Britain.
Mr Hutton said that power generation from fossil fuels would continue to play a 'key role' in the UK.
Such a move would be a shameful climb down from the leading role Britain has taken in demanding worldwide cuts in carbon emissions, and makes a mockery of the Climate Change Bill at present going through Parliament.
Public inquiry now
It is now imperative that a public inquiry is held into plans for the first of the new power stations at Kingsnorth in Kent.
If given the go-ahead, it will emit in excess of seven million tonnes of carbon dioxide each year – more than the annual emissions of 30 developing countries combined.
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Andrew Pendleton, Christian Aid's climate change specialist, said the new power stations would hit the world's poorer communities, already bearing the brunt of climate chaos, hard.
'The last thing we want is more emissions. Official support for new stations burning coal, the most carbon intensive of all fossil fuels, is shameful.
'It is essential that a public inquiry is held in which not only the voices of the environmentalists can be heard, but also organisations working in developing countries.’
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Mr Pendleton said it was particularly disturbing that the Mr Hutton maintained that Britain could still meet proposed carbon emission cuts despite the building of a new generation of coal-fired power plants.
'It is becoming increasingly clear that a significant proportion of the emission cuts being debated in the Climate Change Bill will be achieved through the use of overseas credits, or 'off sets’, purchased from poorer nations,' he said.
Credibility undermined
'Any new coal-powered station will fatally undermine the government's public stance that significant carbon cuts worldwide are urgently needed, making other countries, particularly emerging economies, reluctant to take action themselves,' he added.
Mr Hutton told a conference on March 10 that coal was needed to maintain flexibility in Britain's generating capability and the ability to ramp up electricity production when required.
He said coal was required to provide a back-up to renewables such as nuclear and wind at times of greater demand such as winter months.
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