COP26: a coalition against coal, the most polluting of fossil fuels

A coal-fired power station in the mining town of Witbank, South Africa.

© AP - Themba Hadebe

Text by: RFI Follow

2 min

The United Kingdom, host of COP26, announced on Thursday an agreement to bring together 190 countries to lead to a gradual abandonment of coal.

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On the occasion, this Thursday, from Energy Day to

, the British government has put forward a new coalition which aims to end the exploitation of coal, the most emitting energy source of CO2.

More than forty countries have announced that they are joining this commitment. 

Several dozen countries have already announced that they will gradually end coal mining, such as Canada, Ukraine, Chile, Vietnam and Poland.

But the biggest consumers are still reluctant: the United States, China, Russia, Japan, Australia or even

have not joined the coalition.

This promise, whose compliance and pace remain uncertain, was made when, according to a new study, greenhouse gas emissions responsible for global warming have already almost returned

Coal, responsible for 30% of energy-related CO2 emissions

The goal of the British authorities is therefore to urge countries to put an end to coal as quickly as possible.

That is, to stop investments in new coal-fired power stations at the national and international levels, to intensify the production of clean energy and to end the electricity produced by the combustion of coal by 2030 in the most developed countries, and by 2040 in the rest of the world.

Some analysts see this proclamation as an important step towards ending coal-fired power plants.

In 2021, still a third of the world's electricity is produced with this extremely polluting fossil fuel.

According to the International Energy Agency, coal alone is responsible for over 30% of energy-related CO2 emissions.

However, will this declaration be translated into concrete actions?

On the side of the British government, the fight against coal is one of the pillars of its strategy.

Alok Sharma, who chairs COP26, has even made it “ 

 ”.

“

,” he said.

China pledges to reduce coal consumption by nearly 2%

By our correspondent in Beijing

,

The announcement by the Chinese economic planner does not directly refer to COP26, but it is in addition to Chinese proposals for carbon reduction.

By 2025, coal-fired power plants will have to adjust their consumption to an average of 300 grams of standard coal per KwH, a reduction of 1.8%.

The National Commission for Development and Reform sees it as a way to achieve “

”.

While it may seem ridiculous, the effort is far from negligible among the leading producer of greenhouse gases, where power stations and thermal power stations represent more than 40% of CO2 emissions.

This announcement comes on top of the Chinese President's commitment made at COP15 at the end of September to no longer build coal-fired energy projects abroad.

It is also a way for the country to try to make people forget that China has just relaunched its coal-fired power stations to meet electricity shortages.   

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