India’s coal problem under fresh spotlight after IPCC’s ‘now or never’ warning on climate

While the IPCC report warns coal needs to be shunned, across India, 281 coal plants are operating, 28 are being built and another 23 are in pre-construction phase, reports Stuti Mishra in Delhi

The latest IPCC report sets out solutions needed to curb global warming (PA)

This week’s landmark United Nations climate assessment report has warned there is no space for new coal plants if the world wants to reduce the rate of climate change and usage will have to go down by 95 per cent in the next three decades.

The warning against using fossil fuels, particularly coal, isn’t new, but the issue remains to be a point of contention between developing and developed countries.

Reportedly, one of the reasons behind the delay in publishing the latest chapter of the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report – two assessments of which have already been published in recent months – was the insistence from some countries that their right to development should be recognised, and coal plays a crucial role in that.