Half of global coal companies continue to develop new assets

(China Dialogue, 1 Dec 2021) The 2021 Global Coal Exit List reveals the sluggish pace of the coal phase-out among major coal firms.

A group of 42 NGOs has published revised data providing a detailed – and damning – overview of the global coal industry.

The 2021 update of the Global Coal Exit List details the activities of the 1,030 biggest companies operating along the thermal coal value chain, revealing that 503 of them, or 49%, plan to develop new assets, including coal power plants, new mines or new coal transport infrastructure.

These developments continue despite the need for 78% of the world’s coal usage to be phased out by 2030, in order to have a chance of limiting global warming to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels, the high ambition goal set by the Paris Agreement.

“As long as investors, banks and insurers continue supporting the companies listed on the Global Coal Exit List, it will be impossible to phase out coal in time,” says Heffa Schuecking, director of Urgewald, the German NGO that leads the Coal Exit initiative.

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China Dialogue, 1 Dec 2021: Half of global coal companies continue to develop new assets