Seven countries, including the United States and the Czech Republic, joined a coalition calling for a phase-out of coal generation by 2030 during the UN climate change conference on December 2.
The group, which includes Cyprus, The Dominican Republic, Iceland, Kosovo and Norway joined the Powering Past Coal Alliance (PPCA) at COP28, committing not to develop new coal sources and to phase out existing coal-fired power plants.
PPCA called for to international action to phase out coal as part of the Global Stocktake, to be completed during COP28. The PPCA is a global coalition of governments and local actors that calls on all its members to commit to phasing out coal by 2030.
The coalition does not include China and India, the world's largest coal consumers. The addition of the United States, the world's third-largest coal consumer, to the alliance is a major win for the PPCA.
Coal power is the largest contributor to climate change, with major economies emitting 7.8 billion tons of CO2e in 2020 from this single source.
“To achieve our goal of 100% clean electricity by 2035, we need to phase out coal, and we encourage the world to join us in this while working to create good-paying clean energy jobs,” the US said. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry.
Prior to the announcement, the PPCA included 167 national and subnational governments, businesses and organizations.
