Coal use needs to rapidly fall this decade if the world has any chance of achieving the 1.5C temperature target of the Paris Agreement, yet new coal power plants are still being built. Severe criticism is often levelled at Asian nations where the vast majority of coal power construction is taking place, while coal use declines in Europe and North America. However, our new study – published in Environmental Research Letters – finds that a different picture emerges when emissions are based on who has financed coal plants rather than who is building them. Funding for coal projects has often come from banks and investors in wealthy European nations and the US.
Carbon Brief 14th April 2021 read more »