Polluters getting paid: The ADB's Energy Transition Mechanism

The Asian Development Bank's Energy Transition Mechanism aims to retire coal-fired power plants 10 to 15 years before their projected lifespan ends. But ADB’s claim that this early retirement scheme would “cut 200 million tons of CO2 emissions per year, the equivalent of taking 61 million cars off the road” is a misleading exaggeration. The opposite is true: ETM will bolster fossil fuel companies, minimize their losses and motivate them to perpetuate their faulty business model. This paper shows why.