Steeper cuts needed in global coal plant capacity to achieve climate goals: Report

NEW DELHI: The Global Energy Monitor released its eighth annual survey of the coal plant pipeline on Tuesday, April 26. The report found that after witnessing a rise in 2020 for the first time since 2015, the total coal power capacity under development declined by 13 per cent in 2021. 34 countries were found to have coal plants under consideration, which is down from 41 countries in January 2021.

China, South Korea and Japan have pledged to stop funding for new coal plants in other countries. However, the report noted that China continues to lead all countries in the domestic development of new coal plants, commissioning more coal capacity than the rest of the world combined. India followed China in the same.

The report also noted that the amount of electricity generated from coal rose by 9% in 2021, to a record high. Although, progress was made in 2021 on establishing future retirement dates for operating plants, with the number of coal plants effectively given a close-by date nearly doubling to 750 coal plants.

The report released by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, this month, established that there is no carbon budget left to accommodate new coal plants, and that coal use needs to fall by 75% by 2030 (from 2019 levels) to limit global temperature rise below 1.5 degrees Celsius. Cherelle Blazer, Senior Director, Sierra Club’s International Climate and Policy Campaign, said that the global coal pipeline continues to shrink, but it is still not shrinking fast enough.

Lauri Myllyvirta, Lead Analyst, Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air, commented that many emerging economies have cut back their plans for new coal-fired capacity, with the largest reductions happening in India, Vietnam, Bangladesh, and Egypt. He added that now countries with net-zero emission targets need to step up with a coal-phase out plan that aligns with those targets. Flora Champenois, Global Energy Monitor, said that in order to have a fighting chance at a livable climate, it is essential to stop building new coal plants and retire existing ones in the developed world by 2030, and the rest of the world soon after.