COP26: agreement on coal, the main driver of climate change

Published on : 11/04/2021 – 07:13

Stopping the use of coal is vital to achieving global climate goals. Some countries like Poland, Vietnam and Chile must commit, Thursday, November 4, to phase out the production of electricity from coal and no longer build new plants, as part of an agreement to have 190 countries stop using this fuel.

Coal is the most polluting fuel and the greenhouse gases it produces are the main contributor to climate change.

“The world is going in the right direction”

The signatories of the COP26 agreement would pledge Thursday not to invest in new coal-fired power plants in their countries or abroad, and to phase out the production of electricity from coal in the 2030s to the richest countries, and in the 2040s for the poorer countries, announced the British government.

“The end of coal is near. The world is heading in the right direction, ready to seal the fate of coal and embrace the environmental and economic benefits of building a future powered by clean energy,” Kwasi said. Kwarteng, the Secretary of State for Business and Energy.

New production complexes

In 2019, coal still accounted for around 37% of global electricity production. It is also a cheap and locally produced fuel for countries that depend on it for their electricity production such as South Africa, Poland or India.

New coal-fired power plant projects have declined in recent years, but countries like China, India, Vietnam and Indonesia are planning the construction of new production complexes.

Britain has not specified whether these countries will take part in the COP26 agreement, or whether Vietnam’s commitment expected Thursday would affect projects already in the pre-production phase in the country.

With AFP