More than 40 countries and dozens of organizations have agreed to Glasgow Climate Conference (COP26) Stop using coal to produce electricity. The terms of the agreements will be announced today during the meetings that will bring together the economic ministers of the participating countries.
L ‘an agreement It should make it possible to significantly reduce emissions that cause global warming, but some major coal consumers such as China, India, Australia and the United States have not signed the agreement. However, the signatories include Poland, Ukraine, Canada and Vietnam, which each year use large amounts of coal to produce electricity. Italy also signed the agreement.
The most economically developed countries participating in the initiative are committed By giving up coal by the end of the 1930s, while other economies would have more time, until the end of the 1940s.
A sharp reduction in the consumption of this fossil fuel was one of the main objectives of COP26, and it is considered important to maintain it within the limits of an increase in the average global temperature of 1.5°C by the end of the century, as projected in the agreements in Paris 2015. The increase will continue to lead to Climate changes and more severe weather phenomena, but they are considered manageable compared to scenarios of a 2°C increase in average global temperature over the next 80 years.
Coal is one of the main causes of greenhouse gas emissions, which prevent the Earth from releasing the heat it receives from the sun, and it is mainly used in thermoelectric power plants that, in addition to producing greenhouse gases, emit harmful products that heavily pollute the air. locally, with consequences for the health of millions of people. After a slight decrease in consumption in the most severe phase of the coronavirus pandemic, coal is back in widespread use in many countries to respond to the increasing demand for electricity after industrial activities resumed.
A coal-abandonment agreement has also been signed by more than a hundred financial institutions and regulators of various types, who have pledged to halt investments in the systems and factories that use them. Details will be announced today, following meetings scheduled in Glasgow between the economy ministers of the participating countries and other institutions.
Some participants described the deal as a success, but many observers did. note The commitments made will not be enough to significantly affect one of the main causes of global warming.
Criticism focused on the option of letting the acceding countries continue to use coal for much of the 1930s, rather than setting a deadline before the beginning of that decade. Forecasting models suggest that more advanced economies will need to stop using coal before 2030 to stay within a 1.5°C global temperature rise. It is also unclear what China and the United States will do, although there have been signs in recent days from both countries about plans to cut consumption and above all stop foreign investment to build new plants.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) has estimated that the development of energy systems based on fossil fuels, and therefore not only on coal, should stop early this year to stay within 1.5°C. The organization’s leaders have repeatedly called on countries to stop using coal, which emits so much carbon dioxide.
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