COP26: An agreement on coal-use for the better of the future

By: Ryan Oswald, Staff Reporter, The Pawprint

Major coal users including Poland, Vietnam, and Chile have pledged to stray away from the use of fossil fuels during the COP26 summit. 

However, the world’s largest coal dependents, Australia, India, China, and the US have not pledged to the agreement.

Nations that signed the agreement will hopefully phase out all coal-use by the 2030’s for major nations, and the 2040’s for poorer nations.

UK business and energy secretary Kwasi Kwarteng says that “the world is moving in the right direction, standing ready to seal coal’s fate and embrace the environmental and economic benefits of building a future that is powered by clean energy.”

Coal is the largest contributor to climate change. Although progress has been made in reducing use of coal around the world, it still produced 37% of energy in 2019.