Today, the UK is closing its last coal power plant, demonstrating to the rest of the world that a rapid transition from coal to clean energy is possible and beneficial. Through the Powering Past Coal Alliance, co-chaired together with Canada, the UK is turning its domestic action into a diplomatic push to forge a path to a coal-free future globally.
Once the cradle of the industrial revolution, the UK was the first country to open a public coal-fired power station in 1882 – and now it is going to be the first G7 economy to close the last one down. Coal, which in the middle of the 20th Century dominated all sectors of the UK economy and as recently as 2012 accounted for nearly 40% of the UK’s electricity supply dropped to below 2% in 2019 and zero this year. This represents one of the fastest coal power phase-outs in the world. Coal power has rapidly decreased in parallel with an increase in homegrown wind and solar, resulting in a massive drop in power sector emissions and increase in energy independence.
Through its transition, the UK has demonstrated that once clear government policies are in place, phase-out can happen faster than previously imagined. In the UK, these included ambitious decarbonisation targets introduced through the world-leading Climate Change Act in 2008, announcing a 2025 coal exit a decade in advance, putting a price on carbon, policy support for wind power, market reforms to encourage renewable energy, and investments and innovations in the grid which resulted in a more reliable energy system.
Through the Powering Past Coal Alliance, co-chaired with Canada, the UK will draw on its strengths in moving from coal to clean energy to help other countries overcome challenges. This will allow them to put forward ambitious coal phase-out commitments to support their new Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), which need to be submitted in the lead up to COP30 in Brazil next year. The end of Britain’s coal power coincides with the Clean Energy Ministerial and the G20 Energy Transitions Ministerial Meeting in Brazil, where global leaders are discussing strategies to accelerate the transition to clean energy. The PPCA is calling on the G20 to hasten the end of coal power.
Julia Skorupska, Head of Secretariat of the Powering Past Coal Alliance (PPCA), said:
“The UK has proven that it is possible to phase out coal power at unprecedented speed. One third of all countries have committed to do the same when they joined the Powering Past Coal Alliance. Others will need to step up their efforts – but they don’t have to do it alone. The PPCA brings together governments, financial institutions and companies to help countries phase out coal and reap the benefits of the clean energy transition. We need to see ambitious new commitments as countries develop their new NDCs.”
Matt Webb, Associate Director of E3G’s Coal to Clean programme, said:
“The birthplace of coal power will soon turn its back on coal forever. The UK has recognised that the future of energy is clean, not coal. Now it is time to build on this momentum and the years of work by civil society and platforms such as the Powering Past Coal alliance to accelerate the global transition to clean energy, including through the UK’s proposed Global Clean Power Alliance.”
Dave Jones, Ember’s director of global insights, said:
“This is the final chapter of a remarkably swift transition from the country that started the Industrial Revolution. Once, coal power was a byword for industrial growth. Now clean energy is driving economies – and not just in high-income countries, but throughout the world.”
While the transition away from coal power is well underway, it is not yet fast enough to keep 1.5°C in reach. Countries need to immediately stop building new coal power plants and phase them out in OECD countries by 2030 and in non-OECD countries by 2040.
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Notes
In 2017, together with Canada, the UK created the Powering Past Coal Alliance to advance the transition from unabated coal power generation to clean energy globally. The Alliance works with its members and partners to share best practice and unlock international finance to help countries overcome challenges in phasing out coal so that they can confidently make more ambitious pledges, enact the necessary policies and plans and accelerate implementation.
Underscoring the growing movement to phase out coal, the Powering Past Coal Alliance (PPCA) has expanded to 180 members worldwide, counting almost one-third of the world’s governments and 84% of the OECD and EU governments.
