Full Title: Protected: Deep Trouble: Tracking Global Coal Mine Proposals
Author(s): Ryan Driskell Tate, Christine Shearer, Andiswa Matikinca
Publisher(s): Global Energy Monitor
Publication Date: May 28, 2021
Full Text: Download Resource
Description (excerpt):
Coal producers need to halt all new mines and mine extensions and reduce output 11% each year through 2030 to stand any chance of limiting global warming to 1.5°C and achieving the targets of the Paris climate agreement. Yet rather than winding down production, coal operators continue to propose and build new mines.
This report provides the results of the first comprehensive global survey of coal mine proposals. Based on the survey, 2,277 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) of new coal mining capacity is currently under development, representing nearly 30% of 2019 global production levels (8,135 Mt). While three-fourths (1,663 mtpa) of proposed coal mine capacity is in the early stages of planning and thus vulnerable to cancellation, the remaining quarter (614 mtpa) of proposed mine capacity is already under construction. The prospect of a low-carbon transition puts these projects at risk of up to $91 billion USD in stranded assets. But if they proceed, without unprecedented cutbacks in global production over the next decade, proposed capacity could boost supply to over four times a 1.5°C-compliant pathway.