Coal is a fossil fuel which globally is used in order to generate heat and electricity or to produce diesel fuel, with environmental effects of coal mining including radiation & acid rain its obvious why coal burning needs to be reduced. Reductions in the use of Coal Power which is the single biggest source of global temperature rises is critically important. Coal is known as the dirtiest fossil fuel. Not only does the impacts of coal burning effect temperature increase, but it also has a direct impact on world famous habitats such as the Great Barrier Reef.
When Coal is burned it releases various toxins and pollutants into the environment. these released toxins and pollutants damages waterways, increases the rate of global warming an causes health impacts on human populations worldwide. Health impacts such as asthma, heart problems and cancer are all issues which can be caused by coal burning releasing toxins into the atmosphere (Union of Concerned Citizens, 2017).
Successes’ related to reductions in coal burning at COP26
It was called to accelerate the phase out of unabated coal power and of inefficient subsidies for fossil fuels. Unabated coal is coal which was produced without using emission capturing technologies (Rannard, 2021). More than 40 countries have agreed to move away from coal burning in favor of more renewable “clean” energy sources. Even though India and China changed the language of the pact to a watered down version, this COP26 conference was the first time any decisions had been conducted on coal & fossil fuels.
Failures related to reductions in coal burning at COP26
Despite the agreements made in Glasgow, the planet is still on target to reach 2.4 degrees Celsius warming according to a report carried out by Climate Action Tracker. The worlds biggest users of coal burning, India and the USA did not sign up to move away from coal burning, the failure of such large nations to not sign up to the pact will have detrimental impacts on any progress the other countries make. India and China then insisted on last minute changes to the language of the fossil fuel pact requesting for a “phase down” instead of a “phase out”, phasing down coal burning will not be sufficient enough in reducing temperature rises. Japan did not agree to phase out its coal usage because it stated that it needed to preserve all its options for generating power, this decision made by Japan is a step back for the pact to phase out fossil fuel burning made at COP26.
What Needs to Happen Next?
The president of COP26 , Alok Sharma, declared that China and India would have to explain why they insisted on changing the agreement at the last minute, although the agreement wasn’t legally binding. Temperature increase needs to be reduced as quickly as possible, some of the worlds smallest island nations are vulnerable to being covered by rising sea levels. Nations such as Japan need to get on board with the pledge to phase out coal burning. Actions need to be taken immediately to reduce the impacts of coal burning and the world needs to lose their dependency on the use of coal as am energy source.
As a MscCCAFS student of the Ryan Institute at the National University of Ireland Galway the topic of reducing the burning of fossil fuels is particularly important to me as my main area of interest is how we can reduce the impacts of climate change on the planet. The pact agreed at COP26 to phase out the use of coal will hopefully be beneficial in helping slow down the pace of temperature increase.
References: Why Coal and Climate Change Hurt Our Oceans – Australian Marine Conservation Society, Coal Power Impacts | Union of Concerned Scientists (ucsusa.org), 12 Environmental Effects of Coal Mining – Environment 911, Expectations for COP26 are low but here’s what would make it a success | Euronews, COP26: Coal compromise as leaders near climate deal (yahoo.com), COP26: Global media reacts to climate change deal (cnbc.com)