Coal power must end

 From EMBER

Coal power must end to keep global heating below 1.5C. Coal-fired power accounts for 1/5 of global greenhouse gas emissions, making it the biggest emitter

 

Climate

Burning coal for power emits more carbon dioxide than any other source.

Health

Coal is the deadliest source of power due to pollution and accidents.

Environment

Coal has damaging impacts on water, land, air and wildlife.

Economy

Renewables are now cheaper than new coal, and becoming so for existing coal.

We need to build no new coal power stations anywhere in the world.  Developing countries which are still planning/building new coal power stations need to be persuaded to stop by a combination of diplomatic pressure and subsidies for solar plus storage.  In developed countries, the coal fleet is old, and will be closed down over the next 20 years as the cost of renewables continues to decline while the costs of repair keep on rising.  In developing countries, the coal fleet is much younger, but the same cost dynamics apply here too.  What will happen is that older/dirtier coal power stations will be closed down, and if no new coal power stations are built, the share of electricity generated from coal will fall fast, though prolly not as fast as the 1.5 degree pathway requires.  That will require an active program of decommissioning coal power stations, such as the one the EU has now adopted.