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The United Nations Climate Change Conference COP26 coal withdrawal agreement, but Australia, China, the United States, Russia, India and other major coal producing and consuming countries did not join.
At the UN Climate Change Conference COP26, 40 small and medium-sized countries promised to phase out coal, but several major coal-producing countries including China, the United States, Australia, and India have not yet joined, reflecting the difficulties of international climate cooperation.
The British government stated that among the pledges made at the COP26 climate summit, more than 40 countries pledged to abandon coal.
Countries that currently use coal as their main energy source, such as Poland, Vietnam, Egypt, and Chile, have pledged to gradually abandon the use of coal.
However, some of the world‘s largest coal-dependent countries, including Australia, India, China, the United States and Russia, have not signed this pledge.
Why is there such a situation?
Coal removal progress
Coal is the largest single source of greenhouse gas emissions in climate change. How to “return coal”-stop using coal-is also one of the main topics of the Glasgow Summit.
Compared with the level before the industrial revolution, stopping the use of coal is a crucial step in preventing the global average temperature from rising above 1.5 degrees Celsius. Scientists said that over 1.5 degrees Celsius, the earth will suffer from natural disasters such as heat waves, droughts, wildfires, heavy rains and floods more and more frequently. The average temperature of the earth has risen by approximately 1.1 degrees Celsius compared to before the industrial revolution.
The COP26 coal withdrawal agreement promises to stop all investments in new coal-fired power plants at home and abroad.
The agreement stated that the world‘s major economies will phase out coal power in 2030, and poorer countries will also phase out coal power in 2040.
Dozens of institutions also participated in the signing of this pledge, and several major banks agreed to stop financing the coal industry.
British Secretary of Commerce and Energy Kwasi Kwaarteng (Kwasi Kwaarteng) said that the end of coal is just around the corner.
He said that the world is heading in the right direction, ready to end the history of coal and accept the environmental and economic benefits of building a clean energy-driven future.
Big coal countries did not join
However, the agreement has been criticized by many parties: Australia, India, China, the United States and Russia, including some of the world‘s largest coal energy-dependent countries, have not signed this pledge.
British Shadow Commerce Secretary Ed Miliband said that China and other large emitters have not promised to stop increasing domestic coal use. He also pointed out that there has been no progress in phasing out oil and natural gas.
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The emissions of coal power are more than double the emissions of natural gas power generation.
Miliband criticized the British government for failing to persuade the coal powers to sign the agreement.
Juan Pablo Ossonio, head of the delegation of the 26th Conference of the Parties of Greenpeace, said that overall, this statement is still far from reaching the ambition to phase out fossil fuels in this critical decade. .
He added that despite the shining news headlines, the specific terms seem to give countries huge leeway to choose the date of elimination.
Current status of coal power
Despite the progress made in reducing the use of coal globally, coal power generation still accounted for about 37% of global power generation in 2019.
Poland is the last big coal country in Europe, and currently 70% of its electricity comes from coal. Because of its dependence on coal, it has been criticized by European countries in the past.
Countries such as South Africa, Poland and India have all emphasized that large investments will be needed to make their energy sector cleaner.
At present, the United States, which has not signed the COP26 coal return pledge, still has about one-fifth of its electricity from coal-fired power generation, and China still relies on coal for more than half of its energy supply.
However, before the Glasgow Climate Conference, China, Japan and South Korea all announced that they would no longer provide funding for new overseas coal power projects.
Energy prices
In recent years, countries all over the world have begun to work hard to reduce their dependence on coal resources after signing the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement.
However, before the UN Climate Change Conference COP26 in November 2021, global energy including coal prices have soared, and countries are facing tremendous pressure from possible shortages of power supplies.
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In 2019, coal power generation still accounts for about 37% of global power generation.
Coupled with the resumption of work and production in various countries in the later period of the new crown epidemic, coal use in many countries has rebounded.
In the second half of 2021, as energy prices continue to skyrocket, natural gas is in short supply and prices soar, coal is in short supply, and prices are rising rapidly. Many major countries such as China and the United States have suspended the green energy transition and restarted coal-fired power plants to ensure energy supply demand in winter.
Observers believe that the global coal withdrawal process will continue to progress, but low-carbon and zero-carbon energy sources such as wind, solar and geothermal energy cannot make up the energy gap required for economic development in most countries for the time being.
In addition, although the emissions of petrochemical energy sources such as natural gas and oil are far lower than those of coal, they are still petrochemical energy sources and are also the main source of greenhouse gas emissions.