Mozambique coal exits could do more harm than good
Vale has committed to becoming carbon neutral by 2050—but selling its coal assets to a smaller operator could end up adding to environmental damage
Brazilian miner Vale announced in January it would sell its loss-making Moatize coal mine and associated export rail infrastructure in Mozambique as part of a push to be carbon neutral by 2050. The decision is significant. “Coal companies getting out of coal, particularly metallurgical coal, which could, in some cases, still be economic, sends a strong political and economic message that this is the end of coal,” says Jesse Burton, a researcher at the Energy Systems Research Group at the University of Cape Town and at climate thinktank E3G. “Where does the impetus come from for responsible closure, when all these [listed] companies have gone?” Burton, E3G However, the move poses risk

Also in this section
22 July 2025
Sinopec hosts launch of global sharing platform as Beijing looks to draw on international investors and expertise
22 July 2025
Africa’s most populous nation puts cap-and-trade and voluntary markets at the centre of its emerging strategy to achieve net zero by 2060
17 July 2025
Oil and gas companies will face penalties if they fail to reach the EU’s binding CO₂ injection targets for 2030, but they could also risk building underused and unprofitable CCS infrastructure
9 July 2025
Latin American country plans a cap-and-trade system and supports the scale-up of CCS as it prepares to host COP30