19 countries just alliance to phase out coal
A new alliance, made up of 19 countries has pledged to quickly phase out coal, was launched at the UN climate summit in Bonn, Germany.
This move has been considered a “political watershed” due to extremity of the committed – with coal accounting for 40% of global electricity.
New pledges were made to the Powering Past Coal Alliance by Mexico, New Zealand, Denmark, and Angola, with the UK and Canada leading the movement.
“The case against coal is unequivocal. “The alliance will signal to the world that the time of coal has passed,” commented Claire Perry, the UK Climate Minister.
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The UK was the first nation to pledge for cutting out coal, aiming to do so by 2025.
The country has already reduced its usage from 40% to just 2% since 2012.
Coal is considered the dirtiest fuel environmental, but is also very damaging health-wise, with air pollution from coal having killed 800,000 people a year.
The US administration attended the climate summit to support coal, however the renewable industry in America employs 250,000 people, whereas coal is a sector with only 50,000.
The countries in the alliance are: Angola; Austria; Belgium; Canada; Costa Rica; El Salvador; Fiji; Finland; France; Italy; Luxembourg; Marshall Islands; Mexico; Netherlands; New Zealand; Niue; Portugal; Switzerland; and the United Kingdom.