Vietnam joins the alliance with 190 countries in the commitment to stop producing coal-fired power and stop building new coal-fired power plants at the COP26 conference.
The UK government, which is in the lead of rallying nations committed to get rid of coal power on November 3, issued a statement saying that at the COP26 climate change summit in Glasgow, Scotland, the alliance of 190 countries and organizations have committed to phase out coal-fired power production, and stop building new plants both domestically and internationally. 18 countries including Vietnam, Poland, and Chile have joined this commitment for the first time.
The new “Global Coal-to-Clean Power Transition Declaration”, which includes developed, developing, coal-intensive and climate vulnerable parties, is a milestone at COP26 in global transition to clean energy.
According to the statement, countries commit to stop all new domestic and international coal power investments, and rapidly expand the scale of clean electricity deployment. Major economies will phase out coal power by 2030s, while the rest of the world will do so by 2040s. Countries have also committed to making the transition from coal to clean electricity in line with the ways that would benefit workers and the community.
“Today marks a pivotal moment in our global effort to tackle climate change when countries from all over the world unite in Glasgow to declare that coal no longer plays a role in the future power industry,” said UK Business and Energy Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng. “The end of coal is in sight. The world is on the right track”.
Coal is the most polluting fossil fuel, and greenhouse gas emissions from coal burning are the biggest cause of climate change. Thus, gradual elimination and a rapid, comprehensive transition to clean energy is necessary to achieve the goals under the Paris Agreement, including limiting global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius to prevent disasters.
Besides, in order to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement, the transition to clean energy needs to progress 4-6 times faster than the present.
COP26 is the largest and most important climate summit on the planet, held annually by the United Nations since 1995, bringing together representatives of almost every country to discuss the climate goals as well as the emission reduction process. These meetings are formally known as “conferences of the parties” (COP), and consist of more than 190 members signing the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 1992. This year’s COP26 takes place from October 31 to November 12.
Source: vnexpress.net
