Coal’s end will come sooner than Glasgow suggests

Coal’s end will come sooner than Glasgow suggests

(The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.) MELBOURNE - The United Nations climate summit in Glasgow has left coal down, but not out. Despite agreements, backed by $20 billion in loans and grants, to phase out its use, the fossil fuel could still be a major carbon emitter for 20 years or more. The stock market, though, suggests its demise may be closer at hand. Closing coal-fired power stations is crucial for avoiding catastrophic climate change. If existing plants operated unchanged for the next 30 years, they would consume half the greenhouse-gas budget still available if humanity wants to keep global temperature increases to less than 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, the International Energy Agency reckons. There has been some encouraging progress. A group of western countries will “mobilise” $8.5 billion to wean South Africa off coal. Indonesia and the Philippines are the first countries joining the Asian Development Bank ’s plan to close regional coal plants early. And 46 states pledged to phase out the fuel in the 2030s and 2040s. But the two biggest coal-burners - China, which accounts for 54% of demand, and India which shovels almost 12% - demurred.