Reporting by David Stanway. Edited by Tom Hogg
Chimneys of a coal-fired power plant are seen behind a gate in Shanghai, China, October 21, 2021. REUTERS/Ali Song/File photo acquires licensing rights
SINGAPORE (Reuters) – The G20 has increased per capita emissions from coal-fired power by about 7% since 2015, with China and India adding new plants, and Australia’s per capita CO2 emissions nearly three times higher than the global average. Research showed on Tuesday.
As the bloc meets for a summit in India this week, as many as seven members of the G20 — China, Brazil, India, Japan, South Korea, South Africa and the United States — have yet to lay out plans to phase out coal use, according to environmental group Ember, which focuses on transition. global clean electricity.
Ember said G20 countries are responsible for 80 percent of global energy sector emissions, with per capita carbon dioxide emissions from coal power reaching 1.6 tons last year, up from 1.5 tons in 2015 and well above the global average of 1.1 tons. tons.
China, the world’s largest coal consumer and largest emitter of carbon dioxide, saw per capita emissions reach 3.1 tons in 2022, up 30% from 2015 despite the addition of 670 gigawatts of renewable energy over the period.
Beijing has pledged to start reducing coal consumption, but not before the 2026-2030 planning period. China has continued to develop new coal-fired power plants, with 243 gigawatts of coal-fired capacity approved or under construction, enough to power all of Germany, according to a recent study.
India also saw per capita emissions from the coal sector rise by 29% over the period to 0.8 tonnes.
“China and India are often blamed as the world’s largest polluters of coal power,” said Dave Jones, one of the authors of the Ember report. “But when you factor in population, South Korea and Australia were the worst polluters in 2022.”
Australia has cut per capita coal emissions by more than a quarter since 2015, but they are still at more than 4 tonnes per capita. South Korea’s emissions fell nearly 10% to 3.3 tons per capita, the second highest level in the G20.
“As mature economies, they should work to scale up renewable electricity with enough ambition and confidence to enable the phase-out of coal by 2030.”
At the last G20 summit in July, countries failed to reach agreement on strengthening their climate change commitments, with some blaming China for blocking an agreement.
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