LAST CHANCE FOR THE POWERING PAST COAL ALLIANCE

The briefing argues that the Powering Past Coal Alliance (PPCA) has failed to trigger a meaningful global coal exit due to significant loopholes in its declaration and a lack of monitoring. It highlights that many financial institution members continue to invest in coal, and co-chairs Canada and the UK are not leading by example, with Canada developing new coal mines. The document calls for a reform of the PPCA to align with climate science, requiring an immediate stop to new coal projects and a full sector exit by 2030 in OECD/European countries and 2040 globally.

• The PPCA declaration contains four primary loopholes: it allows new 'abated' coal plants (using carbon capture and storage), excludes coal mining and transport infrastructure, sets phase-out deadlines that are not aligned with a 1.5°C trajectory, and provides weaker goals for financial institutions.
• Specific financial institutions within the PPCA continue to fund major coal developers. For example, CalPERS and L&G invested $48 million and $9 million respectively in China Energy as of January 2021, while Schroders and M&G invested $109 million and $16 million in India's NTPC.
• Co-chair Canada is actively developing its coal export business despite its PPCA membership, with 13 new mines being developed in Alberta and British Columbia. These new mines are estimated to cause 117 Mt CO2 eq emissions.
• The UK, as a co-chair and COP26 host, faces credibility risks due to the consideration of a new coal mine near Whitehaven, England, although an investigation into the project was opened in March 2021.
• Several member states are undermining their pledges: Germany's phase-out date is not aligned with the Paris Agreement; Greece is building a new plant to be closed in 2028; Senegal has no plans to shut down remaining units; and Mexico is stimulating national coal production.
• Among 33 local government members, nine still rely on coal without public exit plans, and 15 'coal free' members from the US, Australia, South Korea, Canada, and Japan are not pushing their national governments to exit coal.

APA

Schreiber, P. (2021). LAST CHANCE FOR THE POWERING PAST COAL ALLIANCE. Reclaim Finance. https://reclaimfinance.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/PPCA_Report.pdf

Chicago

Schreiber, Paul. LAST CHANCE FOR THE POWERING PAST COAL ALLIANCE. Reclaim Finance, 2021. https://reclaimfinance.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/PPCA_Report.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Schreiber |first1=Paul |title=LAST CHANCE FOR THE POWERING PAST COAL ALLIANCE |publisher=Reclaim Finance |date=April 2021 |url=https://reclaimfinance.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/PPCA_Report.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{schreiber2021last, author = {Schreiber, Paul}, title = {{LAST CHANCE FOR THE POWERING PAST COAL ALLIANCE}}, institution = {Reclaim Finance}, year = {2021}, month = apr, url = {https://reclaimfinance.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/PPCA_Report.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }