A total of 25 countries and the European Union are pledging to commit to no new unabated coal power in their next round of national climate plans, the latest global pledge aimed at curbing use of the fuel, according to Bloomberg.
Signatories to the agreement, outlined during the ongoing COP29 climate talks in Baku, include Canada, the UK and Germany, according to a statement published Wednesday. China and India, the world’s largest coal consuming nations, aren’t among backers so far, and neither is the US.
The announcement comes as the US, EU and others have pushed at the Azerbaijan summit for nations to reaffirm and implement a one-year-old agreement to transition away from fossil fuels.
“A large majority of countries have already turned their backs on coal power, opting for affordable, reliable, clean energy instead, but globally coal power is still growing,” European Commissioner for Climate Action, Wopke Hoekstra, said in the statement. “New coal power is one of the biggest threats to keeping 1.5C within reach,” he said.
Backers of the plan will press other nations to make similar commitments on coal power in the lead up to next year’s COP30 talks in Brazil.
Despite increasing urgency to cut emissions and a global pledge at the 2021 Glasgow climate summit to “phase down” coal, use of the dirtiest fossil fuel has surged, and hit a record last year, according to a Global Energy Monitor report in April. Coal power capacity grew 2% in 2023, with China driving two-thirds of additions, the research firm said.
Under the Paris Agreement, countries are due by February to submit new pledges — known as nationally determined contributions — for cutting greenhouse gas emissions through 2035.
The new campaign asks nations to ensure those commitments include a pledge not to add new unabated coal power to their energy systems.
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