Scientists have singled out coal, saying there’s no hope of limiting temperature increases to the critical threshold of 1.5C if the world continues to finance new projects.
The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says the world may be facing temperature increases of more than twice the 1.5C threshold, as emissions continue to rise.
That would leave large swaths of the planet uninhabitable.
The International Energy Agency has made clear that unless coal is rapidly retired there is little chance, if any at all, of curbing global heating to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels — the aspirational goal of the 2015 Paris Agreement.
The coal industry has backtracked on pledges to phase out existing plants and halt new investments, putting the planet on a trajectory that could lead to a “breakdown of our climate systems,” according to a study led by nonprofit Urgewald.
As warnings from climate scientists “become more and more dire,” data revealing the actions of coal companies “remains depressingly consistent,” said Heffa Schuecking, director of Urgewald.
According to a recently released 2022 Power Transition Trends report by energy research firm BloombergNEF, just two markets — China and India — made up a combined 78% of all new coal-fired power generation capacity in the past 10 years.
China on its own had 62% of total installations, with 414 gigawatts. India is the only other market with even 100 gigawatts installed.
“The vast majority” of companies in the so-called Global Coal Exit List (GCEL) “still have no intention of retiring the coal assets, which are propelling us towards a breakdown of our climate systems,” Schueking said. “A real transition requires clear and near coal exit dates.”
GCEL, which is a survey of more than 1,000 coal companies, shows that 46% are still developing new coal assets. Only 56 companies - equivalent to 5.3% of the total - have announced a coal exit date.
Even those setting deadlines have settled on dates that are “ridiculously late,” Urgewald said.
There’s also more cash from the finance industry flowing into coal.
Analysis published last week by campaign groups Urgewald and Reclaim Finance, alongside more than two dozen other NGOs, found that commercial banks channelled $1.5tn to the coal industry between January 2019 and November last year.
Interestingly, financial institutions from just six countries — the US, China, Japan, India, Canada and the UK — were seen to be responsible for more than 80% of coal financing and investment.
Coal has undergone a resurgence this year as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine turbo charges all fossil-fuel markets. The IEA estimates that consumption of the dirtiest fuel will rise by 0.7% this year and then hit an all-time high in 2023.
A little under a year ago, governments left the COP26 climate summit in Scotland having pledged to cut their use of coal. They meet again next month for the COP27 climate summit in Egypt, with an energy crisis, war and the prospect of recession casting a huge shadow over talks.
Scientists believe human mismanagement of the environment — notably through resource extraction, intensive agriculture, and climate change — is precipitating a sixth great extinction of plants and animals in Earth’s history.
Longer term, natural capital preservation and restoration can also slow the impact of global warming, as in the case of carbon sinks like forests and oceans.
Coal is the most carbon-intensive fossil fuel in terms of emissions and therefore the most critical target for replacement in the transition to renewable alternatives.
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