COP26 coal deals take aim at the world's most polluting fossil fuel

Poland, Vietnam, Chile and other countries will pledge on Thursday to phase out coal-fuelled power generation and stop building new plants, in a deal the COP26 summit's British hosts said would commit 190 nations and organisations to quit the fuel.

Coal-burning is one of the main sources of planet-warming greenhouse gases in Earth's atmosphere Luis ACOSTA AFP

Coal is the most polluting fossil fuel and greenhouse gas emissions from burning it are the single biggest contributor to climate change.

Weaning the world off coal is seen as vital to achieve globally agreed climate targets.

Signatories of the COP26 agreement will commit on Thursday to shun investments in new coal plants at home and abroad, and phase out coal-fuelled power generation in the 2030s in richer countries, and the 2040s for poorer nations.

"The end of coal is in sight," according to a statement by the British government.

"The world is moving in the right direction, standing ready to seal coal’s fate and embrace the environmental and economic benefits of building a future that is powered by clean energy," British business and energy secretary Kwasi Kwarteng said.

Worsening economic profile

Separately, the Powering Past Coal Alliance - an international campaign aimed at phasing out the fuel - said it had secured 28 new members, including Ukraine, which pledged to quit the fuel by 2035. Coal produced roughly a third of Ukraine's power last year.

Ukraine🇺🇦 enters the PPCA at #COP26 today with a pledge to end #coal power by 2035 and massively scale up #renewables. A major step for a country with 3rd largest coal fleet in Europe!https://t.co/QkWQYqfFkJ pic.twitter.com/90bgqbLkKP

— Powering Past Coal Alliance (PPCA) (@PastCoal) November 4, 2021

Factors including concerns over planet-warming pollution and a worsening economic profile for coal-fuelled generation have curbed its share in wealthy western countries including Britain, Germany and Ireland over the last few decades.

But coal still produced around 37% of the world's electricity in 2019, and a cheap, abundant local supply means the fuel dominates power production in countries including South Africa, Poland and India.

These countries will require huge investments to shift their industries and energy sectors onto cleaner sources.

New coal plants

The global pipeline for new coal power projects has shrivelled in recent years, although China, India, Vietnam and Indonesia are among those planning to build new coal plants.

China is currently the world's biggest source of climate-warming greenhouse gases and currently, nearly 60 percent of China’s electricity supply comes from coal.

On 22nd of September, the Communist Party's Central Committee issued key guidelines pledging reliance on fossil fuels to less than 20 percent by 2060.

But the proposals leave a long runway for coal-powered electricityas  factories keep finding ways around air-pollution curbs, sometimes by bribing local regulators or falsifying records. Indeed, a a recent article in the New York Times pointed out that China, desperate to meet its electricity needs, "is opening up new coal production exceeding what all of Western Europe mines in a year," in spite of Beijing's climate pledges. 

(With agencies)