NO NEW COAL BY 2021

This report by Global Energy Monitor and E3G analyzes the significant contraction of the global coal power project pipeline between 2015 and 2021. It argues that a global commitment to 'no new coal' is feasible, as a majority of proposed projects have been cancelled due to poor economics and shifting climate policies.

• The global pipeline of proposed coal power plants decreased by 76% between 2015 and July 2021, with 1,175GW of planned projects cancelled. This prevented a 56% expansion of the global coal fleet, which would have been equivalent to adding a second China (1,047GW) to global capacity.
• A small group of six countries—China, India, Viet Nam, Indonesia, Turkey, and Bangladesh—account for over 80% of the world's remaining pre-construction coal pipeline. Action by these nations could remove 82% of the global pre-construction pipeline.
• China hosts over half of the world's operating coal capacity and 55% of the pre-construction pipeline (163GW). Despite this, China's own project pipeline shrank by 74% since 2015, with 484GW of cancellations.
• China is the last major provider of public finance for overseas coal projects following commitments from Japan and South Korea to end such finance. Ending Chinese public finance could lead to the cancellation of over 40GW of projects across 20 countries.
• In the OECD and EU, the coal pipeline has collapsed by 85% since 2015, and the region now holds only 6% of the global pre-construction pipeline. The focus has shifted to retiring existing plants, with 56% of operating capacity either closed since 2010 or scheduled for closure by 2030.
• Non-OECD countries (excluding China) saw their pre-construction pipeline contract by 77% since 2015, with 552GW cancelled compared to 105GW entering operation (a 5.3:1 ratio). 27 of these countries no longer have any projects in their pipeline.
• India's pre-construction pipeline is the second largest globally at 21GW, but it has seen a 92% decrease since 2015, with 326GW of projects cancelled. Economic pressures, including low load factors (falling from 61% in 2018 to 53% in 2021) and cheap renewables, are making new coal unviable.
• In Sub-Saharan Africa, the coal pipeline has fallen by 47% since 2015 to 15GW. Chinese financial institutions are heavily involved, supporting 13 projects in eight countries totaling 11.4GW, which represents 76% of the region's total pipeline.
• South Africa's state utility Eskom is in a financial crisis with approximately $28bn in debt, partly driven by cost and time overruns at the Medupi and Kusile mega-projects. Eskom has announced it will not build new coal plants and is pursuing a Just Energy Transition Financing Facility.
• As of July 2021, 44 governments have committed to no new coal construction, and an additional 40 countries have no projects in their pre-construction pipeline, meaning they could readily commit to 'no new coal'.

APA

LITTLECOTT, C., ROBERTS, L., ŞENLEN, Ö., BURTON, J., JOSHI, M., SHEARER, C., & EWEN, M. (2021). NO NEW COAL BY 2021. Global Energy Monitor. https://globalenergymonitor.org/sites/default/files/migration/reports/No-New-Coal-by-2021-the-collapse-of-the-global-pipeline_11.pdf

Chicago

LITTLECOTT, CHRIS, LEO ROBERTS, ÖYKÜ ŞENLEN, JESSE BURTON, MADHURA JOSHI, CHRISTINE SHEARER, and MATT EWEN. NO NEW COAL BY 2021. Global Energy Monitor, 2021. https://globalenergymonitor.org/sites/default/files/migration/reports/No-New-Coal-by-2021-the-collapse-of-the-global-pipeline_11.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=LITTLECOTT |first1=CHRIS |last2=ROBERTS |first2=LEO |last3=ŞENLEN |first3=ÖYKÜ |last4=BURTON |first4=JESSE |last5=JOSHI |first5=MADHURA |last6=SHEARER |first6=CHRISTINE |last7=EWEN |first7=MATT |title=NO NEW COAL BY 2021 |publisher=Global Energy Monitor |date=September 2021 |url=https://globalenergymonitor.org/sites/default/files/migration/reports/No-New-Coal-by-2021-the-collapse-of-the-global-pipeline_11.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{littlecott2021new, author = {LITTLECOTT, CHRIS and ROBERTS, LEO and ŞENLEN, ÖYKÜ and BURTON, JESSE and JOSHI, MADHURA and SHEARER, CHRISTINE and EWEN, MATT}, title = {{NO NEW COAL BY 2021}}, institution = {Global Energy Monitor}, year = {2021}, month = sep, url = {https://globalenergymonitor.org/sites/default/files/migration/reports/No-New-Coal-by-2021-the-collapse-of-the-global-pipeline_11.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }