Transitioning away from coal power has been controversial. During last year’s United Nations Climate Change Conference (Cop28), countries could not reach an agreement on a timeline for phasing out fossil fuels. "It helps accelerate the shift of investments from coal to clean technology in particular in Japan and more broadly in the whole Asian coal economy, including China and India," said Luca Bergamaschi, co-founding member of Italian climate change think-tank ECCO. Andrew Bowie, a UK minister at the department for energy security and net zero, told Class CNBC in Turin that this is a “historic agreement.” “So, to have the G7 nations come around the table to send that signal to the world – that we, the advanced economies of the world – are committed to phasing out coal by the early 2030s is quite incredible,” he said. The top producers of coal emissions are China, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, Poland, Russia, South Africa, South Korea, and the United States. China is the worst coal polluter on the globe, by far, emitting 8,251 million metric tons of carbon dioxide from coal combustion in 2022. The second largest coal polluter is India, which released 1,854 million metric tons of carbon dioxide from coal combustion in 2022. G7 nations include Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States. The European Union is a "non-enumerated member.” Though only three G7 nations are top polluters, the alliance hopes that the agreement will spur other nations to follow suit with pledges to also cut coal power plants. “Stamping an end date on the coal era is precisely the kind of leadership we need from the world’s wealthiest countries,” said Jennifer Layke, the global director for energy at the World Resources Institute. “This decision provides a beacon of hope for the rest of the world, showing the transition away from coal can happen much faster than many thought possible.” Currently, there are 6,580 coal power plants in operation worldwide, while another 381 are under construction, and another 517 are in the permitting or pre-permit phase.Leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) nations have committed to shutting down all coal power plants by the year 2035 at the latest.
