Poland and 39 other countries pledge to quit using coal

Underpinned by commitments from 20 governments to stop public financing for fossil fuel projects abroad by the end of next year, Britain hopes to deliver one of its main aims for the United Nations summit of "consigning coal power to history."

Coal is the most polluting fossil fuel and greenhouse gas emissions from burning it are the single biggest contributor to climate change. Weaning the world off coal is considered vital to achieving globally agreed climate targets.

Signatories of the COP26 agreement would commit on Thursday to shun investments in new coal plants at home and abroad, and phase out coal-fueled power generation in the 2030s in richer countries, and the 2040s for poorer nations, Britain said.

The commitments are not binding, and some of the signatories have said they will not be able to phase out coal without sufficient financial help from other countries.

A spokesman for the Polish government said the country's commitment would see it end coal use in the 2040s. While climate campaigners called the move a step forward, they said the non-binding pledge would need to be backed up by firm policies. The deal's fine print commits to phasing out coal power generation, but not to ending financing for new plants.

Cheap, abundant and local supplies mean the fuel dominates power production in countries including Poland, India and South Africa, which will require huge investments to shift their industries and energy sectors to cleaner sources.

In certain cities of Poland people have been wearing masks to protect them from the levels of pollution in the air for years.

Britain hopes the summit in Glasgow will adopt plans to help move closer to the target of limiting the rise in the average global temperature to 1.5 degree Celsius 2.7 Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels and to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.

In 2019, coal produced around 37% of the world's electricity, the International Energy Agency has said.