Page 23 - REM Annual Review 2021
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the signatories to ending all investment in new committed to ending coal power over the next
coal power generation domestically and inter- two decades.
nationally and rapidly scaling up deployment of The G7, G20 and OECD have all agreed to
clean power generation. end coal financing abroad – the G20 only last
It also sets a target date of the 2030s for ending week.
coal in major economies, and the 2040s for the
rest of the world. Absentees
The countries must also invest in a just transi- China is the biggest threat to accelerating the
tion away from coal power in a way that benefits decline of coal. While China is in fact a world
workers and communities, thereby mitigating leader in building new solar and wind power in
unemployment and the economic impact of a bid to squeeze coal in the long run, it is also the
coal closures. world’s largest consumer of coal, and the world’s
The statement was announced at COP26 by biggest emitter.
the UK Business and Energy Secretary Kwasi Crucially, it expects an increase in emissions
Kwarteng. for the rest of the decade, and recently refused to
“Today’s ambitious commitments made by bring forward its target date for peak emissions.
our international partners demonstrate that the For India, coal is a crucial fuel, and even
end of coal is in sight. The world is moving in the though PM Modi said on Monday, November 1
right direction, standing ready to seal coal’s fate that renewables would account for 50% of elec-
and embrace the environmental and economic tricity by 2030, the rest is predominantly made
benefits of building a future that is powered by up of coal.
clean energy,” said Kwarteng. The move away from coal at COP26 will now
There have been agreements to end coal put considerable pressure on China, India, the
financing in recent months, but this is the US and Russia to make comparable statements
first time that a long list of coal emitters have in future to reduce their dependency on coal.
Annual Review 2021 www. NEWSBASE .com P23
