Page 9 - AsiaElec Week 40 2021
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AsiaElec COAL AsiaElec
21 countries left
with coal plans
ASIA UP to 21 countries around the world have yet including eight in the OECD and EU, that could
to commit explicitly to no new coal, despite 44 immediately commit to ‘no new coal’. 36 of these
countries already having committed to never have no projects in the development pipeline or
building a coal power plant again. under construction. A further four economies
New research from green think-tank Ember (Japan, South Korea, the United Arab Emirates
has outlined what would be required for coun- and Kazakhstan) are currently constructing
tries to commit to the “no new coal” target to plants but have no further pipeline.
move their economies away from fossil fuels. The new October report follows decisions in
The research finds that in many countries late September by seven governments, including
there are only a handful or less of coal plants in Sri Lanka, Chile and Germany, to announce a No
the planning, and quite often they are zombie New Coal Power Compact at the UN General
projects, unlikely to ever be built. Assembly in New York.
Ember said that there remain just 21 econ- They also invited more countries to join the
omies that have a pre-construction pipeline of commitment ahead of the COP26 climate sum-
more than one coal plant, with the largest pipe- mit in November.
lines being found in China, India, Vietnam, The new publication adds to the discovery in
Indonesia, Turkey and Bangladesh. September in E3G’s No New Coal Report that
Eighty percent of these countries have pro- 1,175 GW of planned coal-fired power projects
jects that are seeking financing from China, has been cancelled since 2015, while 44 govern-
which now face an uncertain future following ments – 27 in the OECD and EU, 17 elsewhere
Beijing’s recent announcement that it will end – have already committed to no new coal.
support for overseas coal projects. Furthermore, 40 countries – eight in the
A further 16 economies have just one pro- OECD and EU, 32 elsewhere – are without any
posed coal plant and could readily commit to no projects in the pre-construction pipeline and are
new coal projects, including Australia, Cambo- in a position where they could readily commit to
dia, Kenya, Kazakhstan, Morocco and Poland. “no new coal.”
The new report also identifies 40 economies,
Week 40 06•October•2022 www. NEWSBASE .com P9
