Coal-free future ‘in sight’ as three-quarters of projects scrapped since Paris climate agreement

Coal is the single biggest source of greenhouse gas emissions contributing to the global climate crisis — but support for new coal projects has collapsed since the 2015 Paris agreement, with just a handful of countries still planning new developments, an encouraging new report has revealed.

In less than six years, there has been a 76 per cent reduction in proposed coal power, “bringing the end of new coal construction into sight”.

The report, by independent climate think tank E3G, found 44 countries have already committed to “no new coal” with a further 40 countries now in a position to do the same, following the cancellation of previously proposed power plants.

The report also found that action by just six countries could remove 82 per cent of the remaining global pipeline of pre-construction projects.

The figures come just two months ahead of the UN’s Cop26 climate summit in Glasgow, which has been described as “the Cop that consigns coal to history” by summit president Alok Sharma.

The summit is also expected to put additional pressure on countries still pursuing coal projects.

China alone accounts for 55% of the global total, followed by India, Vietnam, Indonesia, Turkey, and Bangladesh, the E3G report found.

The remaining coal projects are thinly spread across a further 31 countries, 16 of which are only one project away from embracing a future without coal.

“The economics of coal have become increasingly uncompetitive in comparison to renewable energy, while the risk of stranded assets has increased,” said report author Chris Littlecott, an associate director at E3G.

“Governments can now act with confidence to commit to ‘no new coal’.”

He added: “Ahead of Cop26, governments can collectively confirm their intention to move from coal to clean energy.”

Despite the collapse of planned coal projects around the world, there is still a considerable distance to go to meet the 2030 targets required to meet the Paris climate agreement terms.

According to a recent UN report, the use of coal needs to fall 79 per cent over the next nine years, from 2019 levels, to meet the pledges countries signed up to in Paris in 2015.

“New coal plants are incompatible with the international Paris climate agreement,” said report co-author Christine Shearer, program director at Global Energy Monitor.

“The world’s leading scientific bodies are clear: coal power needs to be essentially phased out in the next two decades to prevent dangerous climate change.”

She added: “The upcoming climate talks are an opportune time for the world’s leaders to come together and commit to a world with no new coal plants, in line with what the science demands.”

Despite being the host of the Cop26 summit, and seeking to portray itself as a “climate leader”, Britain is among the countries still planning a new coal project – though not for coal-fired power, but for use in the steel industry.

International anger over the government’s failure to step in and put a stop to a planned new deep coal mine in Cumbria – the first in the country in 30 years – could undermine the summit, Boris Johnson’s administration has been warned.

The mine is currently the subject of a public inquiry after the government decided to “call in” the planning decision following growing pressure to step in.