The European Climate Analysis Group warns that the EU must accelerate the phase-out of coal

Climate Analytics, a European climate analysis group, released a new report from the coal industry, saying the EU has no hope
of meeting greenhouse gas reduction targets unless at least a quarter of the coal-fired power plants currently operating in the region are phased out in the next 3 years.

Scientists say coal burning is a major contributor to global warming, as well as severe air pollution, leading to health and other problems
.

Climate Analytics said in the report that almost all of the more than 300 coal-fired power plants in the EU will need to be phased out by 2030, and plans for new coal-fired facilities will need to be abandoned
.

Under the terms of the agreement reached at the Paris climate summit in late 2015, countries around the world set a target to keep temperatures "below 2°C below pre-industrial levels and work to limit temperature rise to 1.
5°C
".

Coal power declined

Although the EU reduced coal use in its power plants by 11 percent between 2000 and 2014, it wasn't fast
enough, the report argued.
"Although the role of coal in the EU's electricity mix has been declining, the phase-out of coal
must be accelerated to be consistent with coal emissions from the Paris Agreement.
"

"If existing coal-fired power plants continue to operate as planned, the CO2 emissions budget will exceed 85%
by 2050.
"

There are significant differences
in coal use between EU member states, the report said.
Two states, Germany and Poland, account for 51% of the EU's total coal-fired energy capacity and 54%
of coal plant emissions.

Some countries (Finland, the UK and France) have announced plans to phase out coal-fired power generation over the next 10 to 15 years, while others (including Poland and Greece) have announced plans
to build new coal-fired power plants.

"When considering policy objectives other than climate change, the EU's rapid coal phase-out strategy is not only a necessity but an opportunity
," the report said.
There are many alternatives to coal that are currently booming, many of which bring benefits beyond emissions reduction, such as cleaner air, energy security and distribution
.
”

Global coal consumption has remained stable or declining in recent years, falling by 1.
8% in 2015, the largest decline in more than half a century
.

In China, the world's largest producer and consumer of coal, coal consumption fell
for the first time in decades.
To date, the United States has the world's largest coal reserves, radically reducing coal consumption, which fell nearly 13 percent
in 2015.
However, this is happening
against the backdrop of a surge in coal use in previous years.

Global consumption

According to the International Energy Agency, global coal consumption grew by 70 percent from 2000 to 2013, and coal accounted for more than
40 percent of the world's energy supply in 2013.

India and Southeast Asian countries are still busy building coal-fired power plants, and Japan plans to massively increase coal-fired energy capacity after partially replacing nuclear power capacity
after the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster.

Meanwhile, under the new Trump administration, the United States has now made a commitment
to revitalize the country's coal industry by amending or repealing regulations that restrict the use of coal in power plants.