A coalition of 18 countries, plus dozens of banks and other institutions, will pledge to phase out coal-fired power plants domestically and to end funding for international coal projects, according to a copy of the British announcement seen by The New York Times.
The burning of coal is the single greatest contributor to climate change, and ending support for it is a major issue at the United Nations climate change summit in Glasgow.
The new campaign, which is expected to be announced by British officials late Wednesday in Glasgow, declares that the end of coal “is in sight” because of the new coalition. The full list of 18 countries was not available, but the British document said it included developed and developing countries like Poland, Vietnam, Egypt, Chile and Morocco.
It was unclear whether the United States was part of the agreement. A spokeswoman for John Kerry, President Biden’s climate envoy, did not respond to a request for comment.
The 190 countries and organizations that make up the coalition will commit to ending all investment in new coal power generation domestically and internationally. The time frame was not immediately clear.
They will also agree to make a “just transition away from coal power in a way that benefits workers and communities” and to rapidly scale up the deployment of clean energy like wind and solar power.
According to the announcement, joining the coalition will be HSBC and Export Development Canada, a group that the British government said accounts for $17 trillion in assets now committed to phasing out coal.
Leaders of the world’s 20 largest economies met in Rome before the climate conference and agreed to eliminate financing for coal plants overseas. They stopped short, though, of pledging to end coal at home because of objections from China, India, Australia and Russia.
For all the latest world News Click Here
