Maar van alle landen die kolen gebruiken om stroom mee op te wekken, hebben er slechts 21 beleid opgesteld om daar in de komende negentien jaar helemaal mee te stoppen.

Daar komt bij dat die landen verantwoordelijk zijn voor slechts 4,1 procent van het totale gebruik van kolen voor energie.

En van de CO2 die bij de opwekking van energie vrijkomt, nemen ze een nog kleiner deel (1,3 procent) voor hun rekening.

De IEA twijfelt eraan of het veel landen wel lukt om over dertig jaar klimaatneutraal te zijn. Sneller stoppen met kolen is daarom van belang. Daarbij moeten de landen er rekening mee houden dat dit niet zo makkelijk gaat, onder meer doordat sommige landen nog kolenmijnen hebben.

Reducing global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions to net zero by 2050 is necessary to limit the long?term increase in average global temperatures to 1.5 °C. Today, coal-fired power generation is the largest single source of CO2 emissions. Therefore, tackling emissions from this sector is critical to achieving our goal. National governments, subnational jurisdictions, coalitions and many large corporations have announced coal phase-out pledges and net zero targets.

Ahead of COP 26 in November 2021, Phasing Out Unabated Coal: Current Status and Three Case Studies gathers all known national commitments to eventually stop using unabated coal-fired power generation announced to date and assesses their impact in terms of reducing emissions. In addition, the report analyses three jurisdictions in detail to extract recommendation. First, an early example of coal phase-out commitment and execution from the Canadian province of Ontario.

Second, the case of the United Kingdom, where the industrial revolution started but which was one of the first countries to decide to phase out coal. Finally, Germany, where phasing out is particularly complex because it is the largest coal fired power generator among those committing to a phase-out and has thousands of jobs that rely on lignite mining. This paper acknowledges that each country must tailor its approach based on its own specific circumstances, but that nonetheless there are instructive experiences from other jurisdictions undertaking similar measures.