St. Louis, MO, November 18, 2014 – Peabody Energy today commended the G20 leaders' communique for its focus on global economic growth, poverty eradication in low-income and developing countries, and increased international collaboration on energy policy. 

Peabody Energy Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Gregory H. Boyce said the core themes of the communique, issued after the leaders' summit in Brisbane on Sunday, were closely aligned with the mission of Peabody's Advanced Energy for Life campaign, which raises awareness and support to end the crisis of global energy poverty.

"We applaud G20 leaders for prioritizing global growth that will deliver better living standards and quality jobs for people across the world," said Boyce.  "We also commend G20 leaders for recognizing that strong and resilient energy markets are critical to economic growth and that improving energy efficiency will be a key means of improving energy access and security.  Simply put, affordable energy is the backbone of strong economies and without it, our shared development and poverty eradication goals will remain out of reach."

The leaders' communique includes 21 agreed-upon action items based on discussions that took place during the two-day global summit.  Raising global growth was identified as the highest priority, with poverty eradication included in the communique as a stand-alone goal and member nations committing to actions that contribute to "inclusive and sustainable growth" in developing countries.  The communique also identifies increased collaboration on energy as a priority and targets energy efficiency improvements as a means of addressing the rising demands of sustainable growth and development.      

Boyce noted that global electricity demand was expected to climb nearly 70 percent by 2030, based on the International Energy Agency's current policy scenario and said that "inclusive and sustainable growth" would be impossible for developing nations unless leaders were willing to embrace an all-of-the-above approach to energy policy that included greater use of 21^st century coal.  

"More than half the world's 7 billion people already lack proper access to electricity, and given its large scale, low cost and low emissions profile, 21^st century coal will be a major component of the global energy solution in the decades ahead," said Boyce.  

Boyce said that the concept of 21st century coal was introduced by the governments of China and the United States in 2009, and describes high-efficiency supercritical generation as well as today's advanced coal technologies that drive ultra-low emissions.

"Worldwide, supercritical technologies are in broad use with more than 600 gigawatts in operation or under construction. These highly efficient, commercial technologies available today will be essential to ensuring that those in the developing world have access to reliable, affordable energy that will allow us to meet the economic and poverty eradication goals outlined by G20 leaders in Brisbane this month.  In recent years we've seen carbon caps and taxes wreak havoc on developed economies for negligible environmental gain, whereas advanced coal technologies offer a concrete path toward significant environmental progress on a global scale."