Ministers claimed the ‘end of coal’ was in sight last night after unveiling a major new agreement to phase it out – but they failed to win any movement from big polluters like China.
Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng said 190 world leaders and bodies had agreed to stop using coal power and would end funding for new plants.
And the UK, USA, Poland, Vietnam, Egypt, Chile and Morocco were among more than 40 countries who signed up to a separate commitment to end investment in coal power plants at home and abroad.
Mr Kwarteng said it represented a ‘milestone moment’ and that coal had ‘no part to play’ in future power generation.
China has refused to commit to reducing its reliance on coal power after President Xi snubbed the Cop26 meeting in Glasgow
The new commitments did not include major polluters like China, India, Russia and Brazil, pictured an open-pit coal mine in Ordos, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region of China
But, crucially, the new commitments did not include major polluters like China, India, Russia and Brazil.
Britain’s two coal power plants are already due to be decommissioned by 2024. The UK is still considering plans to build a new coal power plant in Cumbria and awaiting the report from a public inquiry, but it would be for steel production rather than energy, so is not covered by the deal.
The coal agreement came as:
Thousands of delegates came to Cop26 in private jets, prompting warnings that it was turning into an ‘extravagant eco-jolly’. Banks revealed that future bonuses could be linked to green targets. Cop26 president Alok Sharma took a swipe at China as he said countries that hadn’t shown up for the summit had failed to show leadership. Mr Sharma told delegates they were the ‘new Swampys’ in reference to the veteran environmental protester. A major study suggested the world’s climate change pledges could limit warming to 1.9C on current estimates.Meanwhile, ministers hailed their success in bringing together countries and
