Comment on UK/Canada Coal Alliance

“This is very good news; coal is the most polluting form of fuel that we use, and phasing it out as quickly as possible is essential for keeping climate change within reasonable limits.

“The Government is to be commended for its leadership on this issue – first at home, by deciding to end coal use by 2025, and then by forming this alliance with Canada. I hope that we will see more countries joining the alliance in the coming months.”

Richard Black, director of the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) said:

“This initiative is potentially more important even than the Indian-led Solar Alliance, because cutting coal use is just about the single most important thing any country can do to curb its carbon emissions.

“The symbolism is already powerful, with the alliance to end coal use driven by the country that started it, the UK. And it must be an embarrassment to Germany, which proudly proclaims ‘climate leadership’ while keeping its lignite plants burning, to have the alliance launch on its own soil.

“But to be really effective it’s going to have to bring in some of the really big coal countries, such as Germany, Poland, Australia and, eventually, the United States and China – and accelerate their transitions away from coal. That’s a big challenge; but there is goodwill already from nations vulnerable to climate impacts, and it is a question of accelerating something that’s happening anyway.”