The Story:
In a landmark agreement that hopes to phase out fossil fuel use from a key industry, two U.S. states and twenty countries across the globe have joined an alliance to phase out the use of coal for power generation before 2030.
The Launch of the Powering Past Coal Alliance
The alliance launched not long after British PM Theresa May restated her nation’s commitment to phasing out the unabated use of coal to generate power by 2025, at an announcement that was made during a joint press conference with her Canadian counterpart Justin Trudeau this September.
Dubbed the Powering Past Coal Alliance, the pact seeks to number at least 50 when the next U.N. climate summit is held in 2018 in Katowice, Poland, one of Europe’s most highly polluted cities.
Who’s in so far?
According to environmental ministers, the alliance now comprises, in alphabetical order, Angola, Austria, Belgium, Britain, Canada, Costa Rica, Denmark, El Salvador, Fiji, Finland, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Marshall Islands, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Niue, Portugal and Switzerland. In addition, Washington and Oregon in the United States, and five Canadian provinces have also signed the pact.
Why Coal?
Over 40 percent of global CO2 emissions is attributable to the use of coal, specifically in the power generation industry. Since the Paris Agreement on climate came into effect in 2015, several countries have laid elaborate pan-national plans to phase out coal from their power supply equations.
However, even total compliance by the Paris accord members might not be enough, which is why the alliance wants to push even harder to eliminate the use of this abundant but ultimately detrimental natural resource in one of the key industries responsible for the problem of global warming.
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