Large coal users' absence casts shadow over COP26 deal No one should doubt how serious we are about that,вЂќ the spokesperson added. President BidenвЂ™s first specific climate pledge was decarbonising the US energy sector by 2035. вЂњThe US is already moving forward on a just energy transition. However, it does not include the worldвЂ™s biggest coal-dependent economies вЂ“ including Australia, China, India and the US вЂ“ and a decision from Poland to join the alliance has also attracted criticism after it opted to meet the later phase out deadline of 2049, rather than to transition a decade earlier.ДЄ US government spokesperson said phaseout targets вЂњare very important, but they canвЂ™t be seen as an end in themselvesвЂќ because they вЂњhave to be backed up by actionвЂќ. The deal calls for developed economies to phase out the use of coal for electricity generation in the 2030s, and for smaller economies to follow in the 2040s. Green groups, academics and business leaders have warned that the Powering PastВ CoalВ Alliance falls short on the ambition and pace required to meet the worldвЂ™s climate targets.

The clarion call for further climate action followed a day of growing criticism over a flagship deal to вЂњkeep 1.5C aliveвЂќ by choking off international coal financing and phasing out coal power generation. We must recognise that this is a fight that we cannot afford to lose,вЂќ he added. We cannot celebrate before weвЂ™ve done the job. вЂњFatih, I heard your numbers, but based on the NDCs that have been submitted, the world is on a 2.7C pathway, a catastrophic pathway, and therefore we are a long way away from keeping the 1.5C goal of the Paris Agreement alive.вЂќ вЂњOur fight is far from over,вЂќ Hart told delegates, moments after BirolвЂ™s address. The IEAвЂ™s forecast was also challenged by Selwin Hart, the UNвЂ™s assistant secretary-general for climate change, who warned that the official climate goals put forward as part of the UNвЂ™s nationally determined contributions (NDC) showed that the world is вЂњa long wayвЂќ from avoiding a catastrophic climate emergency. However, the promise of climate progress at the COP26 talks risks being dashed amid rising criticism over a set of key of climate pledges, spearheaded by the UK government, to reduce global emissions by phasing out coal power generation. The highly influential energy watchdogВ analysed a string of commitments by global governments to cut emissions to вЂњnet zeroвЂќ, combined with a major pledge to limit global methane emissions, and found that fully achieving the goals would slash global heating predictions from a rise of 2.7C set out before UN climate talks. The climate pledges agreed so far at the Cop26 conference could keep the worldвЂ™s rising temperatures to within 1.8C of pre-industrialised levels, according to the International EnergyВ Agency вЂ“ but only if the commitments are implemented in full.ДЇatih Birol, the IEAвЂ™s executive director, told delegates at the conference that despite the pessimism ahead of theВ COP26В talks, a вЂњbig step forwardвЂќ was possible if all the pledges set out to date were вЂњfully achievedвЂќ.

EURACTIVвЂ™s media partner, The Guardian, reports. Fatih Birol says вЂbig step forwardвЂ™ is possible only if all commitments are implemented in full.

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