Coal-free future ‘in sight’ as three-quarters of projects scrapped since Paris climate agreement

Global collapse in planned coal projects piles pressure on handful of countries to halt new developments

Coal is the single biggest source of greenhouse gas emissions contributing to the global climate crisis — but support for new coal projects has collapsed since the 2015 Paris agreement, with just a handful of countries still planning new developments, an encouraging new report has revealed.

In less than six years, there has been a 76 per cent reduction in proposed coal power, “bringing the end of new coal construction into sight”.

The report, by independent climate think tank E3G, found 44 countries have already committed to “no new coal” with a further 40 countries now in a position to do the same, following the cancellation of previously proposed power plants.