Powering Past Coal Alliance

The Powering Past Coal Alliance (PPCA) is a group of 137 countries, cities, regions and organizations aimed at accelerating the phasing out of fossil fuels from coal-fired power plants. It is called the “Non-Proliferation Treaty” of fossil fuels. The project was carried out with financial support from the Government of Canada through the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change. The main goal of the alliance is to phase out coal-fired power plants. Originally launched by Canada and the United Kingdom. This was announced at COP23 of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in the year 2017 in the city of Bonn.

Highlights

By the end of the 2017 UNFCCC Summit, about 20 countries had joined the alliance. In 2018, South Korea’s South Chungcheong Province joined the alliance. In this way, it joined the alliance as the first largest user of coal-fired power and as the largest jurisdiction in Asia.

Members of PPCA

Large coal consumers such as China, India and Australia are not members of the Powering Past Coal Alliance. The United States is not a member either. However, the United States and some states in Australia are members of the alliance. Members of the alliance are Uruguay, Vanuatu, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Tuvalu, Sweden, Switzerland, Slovenia, Spain, Singapore, Slovakia, Portugal, Senegal, Northern Macedonia, Peru, New Zealand, Niue, Montenegro, Netherlands, Mauritius and Mexico, Luxemburg, Marshall Islands, Lichtenstein, Lithuania, Italy, Latvia, Ireland, Israel, Greece, Hungary, France, Germany, Fiji, Finland, Estonia, Ethiopia, Denmark, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Croatia, Canada, Chile, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Angola, Austria and Albania.

Objective of PPCA

The main goals of the alliance are to withdraw from traditional coal-fired power plants, close coal-fired power plants operating without CO2 capture and storage, companies and organizations operating without coal-fired power, and members of the alliance are clean energy. And the implementation of guidelines for funding members will limit the resources allocated to coal-fired power plants without carbon recovery and storage.

New Members joining PPCA in COP 26

Approximately 28 countries joined the alliance at the COP26 UNFCCC in the city of Glasgow in the month of November 2021. This has increased the total number of members of the alliance to 48. Ukraine, Poland, Mauritius, Chile, Singapore, Estonia, etc. have joined. China, India and the United States the three big coal burners did not sign. During COP26, members of the alliance have promised to suspend international investment in new coal-fired power plants.