At least 23 countries have made new commitments to phasing out coal-fired electricity, including five countries (South Korea, Indonesia, Vietnam, Poland and Ukraine) that are among the top 20 producers of coal-fired electricity, the UK Presidency of the 26th session of the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) announced on Thursday 4 November.
The timetables announced for phasing out coal vary from country to country. Poland, for example, has committed to phasing out coal in the 2040s (it had already committed to a 2049 deadline - see EUROPE 12568/24).
In addition, 28 new members, including Chile and Singapore, joined the Powering Past Coal Alliance, a global coal phase-out alliance initiated and co-chaired by the UK. The alliance now has over 150 members, including 48 national governments.
China, the largest coal-fired electricity producer, has not made any announcements regarding its power plants. However, it has recently committed itself not to build any new coal-fired power plants abroad, without setting a timetable (see EUROPE 12796/20). Australia and India are also among the big absentees.
At the same time, twenty countries - including the US, Canada, the UK and Italy - have committed to stop financing fossil fuel projects abroad by the end of 2022 (see EUROPE 12826/1). (Original version in French by Damien Genicot)