{"id":41076,"date":"2025-11-16T07:15:00","date_gmt":"2025-11-16T15:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/?p=41076"},"modified":"2025-11-14T08:24:01","modified_gmt":"2025-11-14T16:24:01","slug":"can-the-world-quit-coal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/can-the-world-quit-coal\/","title":{"rendered":"Can the world quit coal?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Stacy D. VanDeveer<\/a>, UMass Boston<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As world leaders<\/a> and thousands of researchers, activists<\/a> and lobbyists<\/a> meet in Brazil at the 30th annual United Nations climate conference<\/a>, there is plenty of frustration that the world isn\u2019t making progress on climate change fast enough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Globally, greenhouse gas emissions and global temperatures<\/a> continue to rise. In the U.S., the Trump administration, which didn\u2019t send an official delegation to the climate talks, is rolling back environmental and energy regulations<\/a> and pressuring other countries<\/a> to boost their use of fossil fuels \u2013 the leading driver of climate change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Coal use is also rising, particularly in India and China<\/a>. And debates rage about justice and the future for coal-dependent communities<\/a> as coal burning and coal mining end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But underneath the bad news is a set of complex, contradictory and sometimes hopeful developments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The problem with coal<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Coal is the dirtiest source of fossil fuel energy<\/a> and a major contributor of greenhouse gas emissions, making it bad not just for the climate but also for human health<\/a>. That makes it a good target for cutting global emissions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A swift drop in coal use is the main reason U.S. greenhouse gas emissions fell<\/a> in recent years as natural gas and renewable energy became cheaper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, nearly a third of all countries worldwide have pledged to phase out<\/a> their unabated coal-burning power plants in the coming years, including several countries you might not expect. Germany, Spain, Malaysia, the Czech Republic \u2013 all have substantial coal reserves and coal use today, yet they are among the more than 60 countries<\/a> that have joined the Powering Past Coal Alliance and set phase-out deadlines between 2025 and 2040.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Several governments in the European Union<\/a> and Latin America<\/a> are now coal phase-out leaders, and EU greenhouse gas emissions continue to fall<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Progress, and challenges ahead<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

So, where do things stand for phasing out coal burning globally? The picture is mixed. For example:<\/p>\n\n\n\n