Global coal use will reach a record level in 2024 | Environment and climate

Coal use reached a record high around the world last year despite efforts to shift to clean energy, putting the world’s attempts to control global warming at risk.

Although the share of coal in electricity generation has declined with the rise in reliance on renewable energy, the general increase in energy demand has led to an intensification of coal use in general, according to the annual State of Climate Action report, issued yesterday, Wednesday.

The report painted a bleak picture of the world’s chances of avoiding the increasingly severe impacts of the climate crisis, as countries lag behind in achieving the goals they set to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, which have continued to rise, albeit at a slower rate.

“There is no doubt that we are moving in the right direction, but we are not moving fast enough,” said Clea Schumer, a researcher at the World Resources Institute. “It is worrying that coal phase-out efforts are still lagging significantly behind for the fifth year in a row.”

On the other hand, the report indicated that renewable energy is growing at a “tremendous” pace, as solar energy has become the fastest growing energy source in history, but its current growth rates need to double by the end of the decade to achieve emissions reduction goals.

The report stressed that achieving net zero emissions by 2050, to limit temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius as stipulated in the Paris Climate Agreement, requires expanding the use of electricity in various sectors instead of oil and gas. But achieving this will not be possible unless the global electricity sector is converted to low-carbon sources.

“The problem is that an energy system that relies on fossil fuels has enormous impacts, and we simply won’t limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius if coal use continues to break records,” Schumer says.

Although most countries have committed to reducing coal use since 2021, some countries are still pushing to increase production, and India’s coal production this year exceeded one billion tons, and in the United States, President Donald Trump announced his support for “cheap and beautiful” coal and other fossil fuels.

The report noted that President Trump’s policies of disavowing climate action will have an impact in the future, though other countries, including China and the European Union, may mitigate their impact by continuing to favor renewable energy sources.

World leaders and senior officials will meet in Brazil next November to attend the United Nations Climate Summit (COP30), to discuss how to put the world on track to stay within 1.5 degrees Celsius of global warming, in line with the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement.

Each government is supposed to present a detailed national plan to reduce emissions known as a “nationally determined contribution,” but it is clear – according to the report – that these plans will not be sufficient in light of current trends.

Coal is one of the most environmentally polluting sources of energy. Its use in industry or its burning to produce energy releases large amounts of carbon dioxide. The accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere causes global warming, climate change, and extreme weather events.