British electricity generation company Drax revealed Thursday that it will stop using coal next year, four years ahead of the UK government's official target, with the loss of 230 jobs.

Drax will cease almost 50 years of coal-fired electricity generation at its Selby plant in Yorkshire, northern England, in March 2021, it said in a statement.

The London-listed company will shutter the country's largest power station ahead of Britain's 2025 deadline to achieve "net zero" carbon emissions.

The government wants to phase out coal power generation as part of its plans to combat climate change.

Drax meanwhile aims to become carbon negative by 2030, meaning that it seeks to capture more carbon -- via bioenergy carbon capture and storage technology -- than its operations release into the atmosphere.

"Ending the use of coal at Drax is a landmark in our continued efforts to transform the business and become a world-leading carbon negative company by 2030," said chief executive Will Gardiner.

"Drax's journey away from coal began some years ago and I'm proud to say we're going to finish the job well ahead of the government's 2025 deadline."

Brazil, US 'rolling back' on climate: UN rights chief
Geneva (AFP) Feb 27, 2020 - The UN's human rights chief on Thursday accused Brazil and the United States of "rolling back" on environmental protection, while praising the European Union for taking "ambitious action" to reduce emissions.

"Protection of our environment is fundamental to the enjoyment of all human rights," Michelle Bachelet told the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva.

"The United States is... rolling back environmental protections, including for waterways and wetlands.

"Untreated pollutants may now be poured directly into millions of miles of streams and rivers, putting ecosystems, drinking water and human health at risk."

US President Donald Trump's administration last year revoked waterway regulations adopted under his predecessor Barack Obama in a move that was widely condemned by conservationists but celebrated by farmers and developers.

Bachelet said moves to weaken fuel emission standards and decreased regulation on the oil and gas industries in the US under Trump "could also harm human rights".

The UN rights chief, the former president of Chile, also needled the US over its migration policies saying they "raise significant human rights concerns".

"Reducing the number of people trying to enter the country should not be done in disregard of asylum and migrant protections. The situation of children in detention is of particular concern," she said.

Turning to Brazil, she pointed to "significant rollbacks of policies to protect the environment and indigenous peoples' rights" under far-right President Jair Bolsonaro.

Bolsonaro, a climate change sceptic, has been widely criticised for easing restrictions on exploiting the Amazon's vast riches, leading to accelerated deforestation.

In contrast, Bachelet welcomed EU "leadership" on the environment through the adoption of a "Green Deal" plan to finance its goal of making the bloc carbon neutral by 2050.

"It couples ambitious action within the EU with a strong dimension of external action, engaging both climate diplomacy and green cooperation aid.

"Implementation of this plan will greatly advance enjoyment of the right to a healthy environment, and I encourage strong social measures to ensure that just transitions leave no one behind," Bachelet said.

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Climate activists occupy disputed German coal plant
Frankfurt Am Main (AFP) Feb 25, 2020
Climate activists occupied a highly controversial new coal power plant in Germany on Tuesday, police said, preventing a test run of generators campaigners say should never be brought online. Police told AFP that 14 people had entered the grounds of the Datteln coal station in North Rhine-Westphalia state, and some had chained themselves to machinery. The power station is controversial because it is slated to come online just after Berlin agreed a long-term plan to exit coal-fired power by 2038 ... read more