COAL POWER FINANCE IN HIGH-IMPACT COUNTRIES

The document analyzes coal finance in 18 high-impact countries (HICs) with significant electricity access gaps. It finds that while global coal investment is declining, finance persists in HICs, largely driven by Chinese state-owned institutions and a few South Asian nations. The report argues that coal is misaligned with Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG7) due to long development timelines and high infrastructure costs, contrasting this with the efficiency of distributed renewable energy. It highlights the risk of stranded assets in Bangladesh and Pakistan and the operational hurdles facing coal in Africa, concluding that a shift toward renewables and finance-based carbon accounting is necessary to achieve net-zero goals.

• Between 2013 and 2019, financial institutions based in China provided 40 percent of the total USD 42 billion in finance committed to coal-fired power plants in the 18 analyzed high-impact countries (HICs).
• India is the primary driver of coal capacity expansion among HICs, hosting 87 percent of the total coal generation pipeline currently under active development.
• International public finance has been the dominant source of funding for new coal plants in HICs since 2013, whereas nearly 60 percent of finance for new renewable power plants in the same period came from domestic private investors.
• Coal-fired power is deemed incompatible with the 2030 target for universal electricity access (SDG7) because of the long development timelines for thermal generators and their required infrastructure.
• In Bangladesh and Pakistan, newly commissioned coal plants are underutilized due to infrastructure constraints and lower-than-expected demand, leading to significant 'capacity payments' to plant owners.
• Coal development in Sub-Saharan African HICs faces a high failure rate; of 20 GW of planned coal projects, 18.1 GW have been shelved or cancelled.
• China has exported outdated subcritical coal technology to HICs to monetize surplus capacity and provide jobs for domestic workers, despite using more efficient supercritical designs within its own borders.
• Many global commercial banks maintain a contradiction between their public net-zero commitments and their business practices, continuing to fund coal through corporate finance for project sponsors.
• The Lamu coal project in Kenya serves as a case study for the risks of coal investment, where a project with backing from the Kenyan government, Chinese banks, and the AfDB eventually collapsed due to community opposition, environmental reviews, and financial withdrawals.

APA

Climate Policy Initiative (2021). COAL POWER FINANCE IN HIGH-IMPACT COUNTRIES. https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/EF2021_CoalFinance_20210915_final.pdf

Chicago

Climate Policy Initiative. COAL POWER FINANCE IN HIGH-IMPACT COUNTRIES. 2021. https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/EF2021_CoalFinance_20210915_final.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Climate Policy Initiative |title=COAL POWER FINANCE IN HIGH-IMPACT COUNTRIES |date=September 2021 |url=https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/EF2021_CoalFinance_20210915_final.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{climatepolicyinitiative2021coal, author = {{Climate Policy Initiative}}, title = {{COAL POWER FINANCE IN HIGH-IMPACT COUNTRIES}}, institution = {Climate Policy Initiative}, year = {2021}, month = sep, url = {https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/EF2021_CoalFinance_20210915_final.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }