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COP26: Will nations coal phase down targets help meet global warming target?

By Shubhangi on Nov 24, 2021 | 03:34 AM IST

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More than 40 countries pledge to shift away from coal including major coal-using nations such as Poland, Vietnam and Chile

Governments committed to end direct international public finance for unabated coal, oil, and gas by the end of 2022

The UN climate summit COP26 held in Glasgow, Scotland has taken the talks about climate change and its global impact to the next level.

The summit, attended by about 200 countries, concluded with nations committing to work together to restrict adverse impact of climate change.

The focus of the summit was to restrict global carbon emissions and limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius to avoid irreversible climate impact. One of the most important decisions was on cranking down the use of coal in major economies.

Also Read: Convening for a greener future - COP26 and its relevance

Pledges taken

Coal, which is the dirtiest fossil fuel, is responsible for 30% of global emissions. COP26 climate summit, though, was not successful in completely prohibiting coal use took pledges to “phase down” its use.

More than 40 countries pledged to shift away from coal including major coal-using nations such as Poland, Vietnam and Chile.

The United Kingdom said that the signatories to the agreement have committed to phasing out coal power in the 2030s in major economies, and the 2040s in poorer nations.

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However, the world’s major coal users including China, the U.S., and India did not sign up to the agreement.

Deforestation

Other than fossil fuels, deforestation is also a major source of greenhouse gas emissions. At the COP26 summit, more than 100 countries signed a declaration to halt forest loss and land degradation by 2030.

The US and China announced in a joint statement that they will contribute in eliminating global illegal deforestation by banning illegal imports of timber.

The UK as well adopted a regulation to restrict the import of agricultural commodities related to illegal deforestation.

Fossil fuel finance

For a long time now, governments have been providing financial support to fossil fuel industry which has countered their efforts towards reducing emissions.

At COP26, more than 20 countries and institutions committed to ending direct international public finance for unabated coal, oil, and gas by the end of 2022 and to transition towards clean energy finance.

Also Read: Poor countries demand financial aid for climate damage

Canada, which is the top public financer of fossil fuels, also signed the agreement. In addition to that, top EU fossil fuel financers including France, Germany, Italy and Spain signed as well. 

Though governments pledged to end financial support for coal, they did not make any concrete commitments towards fossil fuel subsidies and other support to the industry.

COP26 only asked nations to accelerate phasing out fossil fuel subsidies but did not decide a time frame for it.

U.S.-China agreement

A surprise deal was made between China and the United States to deal with the increasing global warming with only two days left of the COP26 climate summit

U.S. climate envoy John Kerry and his Chinese counterpart Xie Zhenhua revealed a deal between the two countries, two biggest greenhouse gas emitters.

According to the deal, China, the biggest producer and user of coal, pledged to accelerate its transition from coal.

China said in the joint declaration that the country would begin phasing out its coal consumption by 2026-30 and cut its methane emissions as well.

Transition from ‘phase out’ to ‘phase down’

The plan to “phase out” coal at COP26 this year was replaced by “phase down” of coal due to the intervention of India at the last moment.

Also Read: COP26: Long way ahead for zero-emission vehicles despite national leaders’ pledge for EV push

Developing countries like South Africa and India are still largely dependent on coal and to transition away from the fossil fuel would be quite challenging for them.

To help transition South Africa away from coal, the United Kingdom, the European Union, the United States, Germany, and France announced $8.5 billion in financing over the next five years.

South Africa is majorly dependent on coal with 87 percent of its power generated from burning of coal. 

Coal still produced approximately 37 percent of the world’s electricity in 2019.

Criticism around pledges

The pledges made by nations at the UN climate summit have received a fair share of criticism from environmentalists and experts.

UN Chief Antonio Guterres said that the announcements made at the summit are encouraging but are far from enough.

Climate Action Tracker (CAT) said global warming would rise to 2.4 degrees Celsius this century, far above safe levels, even if the new pledges undertaken by nations at COP26 are implemented.

The commitments made by nations at the U.N. climate summit in Glasgow to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 are not enough to meet the target set by United Nations for 2100, said CAT.

“Even with all new Glasgow pledges for 2030, we will emit roughly twice as much in 2030 as required for 1.5°C," CAT said, referring to the global warming goals in the 2015 Paris Agreement.

"Therefore, all governments need to reconsider their targets," the research coalition added.

Impact on industry

Days after pledges taken by several nations in the U.N. climate summit COP26 to reduce the use of fossil fuel, shares of major coal miners tumbled globally.

Miners such as China Shenhua Energy and Yanzhou Coal fell 1% and 2.4% respectively in Hong Kong. 

Also Read: The Mineral Hunt: Searching for the green in green tech development 

Coal stocks were down in other regions as well. The world’s biggest coal exporter, Indonesia experienced a bigger plunge due to rising production in China.

Top Indonesian miner Bumi Resources fell 5.7% while Adaro Energy and Indika Energy declined 4.5% and 7% respectively.

(With inputs from Human Rights Watch, BBC and Reuters)

Picture Credits: Reuters

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