Urgewald, Reclaim Finance, and 39 NGOs released the 2022 update of the Global Coal Exit List (GCEL)<\/a><\/span>, the world\u2019s most comprehensive database on the coal industry. Out of the 1,064 companies (1)<\/b> in the database, 490 (i.e. 46%) are still developing new coal power plants, new coal mines, or new coal transport infrastructure. This number, as high as last year, should alert all stakeholders on the appalling lack of progress and the urgent need to get serious on coal. Coal developers thrive on the support of the financial institutions that keep providing them with the resources they need to continue developing new coal projects (2)<\/b>. As of today, only 28 financial institutions have adopted effective coal exit policies (3)<\/b>. Reclaim Finance calls on others to grab the GCEL on their road to COP27 and screen out coal developers off the list of their clients and investees companies.<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div> A year ago, COP26 President Alok Sharma declared \u00ab\u00a0From the start of the UK\u2019s Presidency, we have been clear that COP26 must be the COP that consigns coal to history.\u00a0\u00bb (4) As COP27 draws near, it is clear that the coal industry remains a major obstacle to meeting the 1.5\u00b0C climate goal. Indeed, 476 GW of new coal-fired power capacity and over 2,500 million tons per annum of new thermal coal mining capacity are still in the pipeline worldwide (5). Meanwhile, the current coal fleet, which comprises 6,500 coal plant units worldwide with a combined capacity of 2,067 GW (6), remains to be phased out (7).<\/p>\n Unlike what many financial institutions claim to justify their continued support to coal developers, these companies are not transitioning. Indeed, only 5.3% of the companies in the GCEL have announced a coal exit date. However, only 27 companies (i.e. 2.5%) have announced a phase out date in line with climate science. Others, including KEPCO, Marubeni, and Mitsubishi (8), have committed to exit the coal sector after the required deadlines of 2030 in EU and OECD countries, and 2040 in the rest of the world. Nonetheless, a more thorough analysis of these companies\u2019 transition plans reveals that most of them merely imply converting coal plants to gas or selling them instead of retiring them<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n<\/div> Whether they finance, provide insurance coverage, or invest in coal companies, including through the purchase of new bonds, many private financial institutions keep providing the support required for companies to develop new coal projects and oppose the phase-out of existing coal assets. According to the Coal Policy Tool<\/a><\/span>, 190 financial institutions still have no coal policy, 272 financial institutions have weak or insufficient coal policies, and only 28 financial institutions have adopted effective coal exit policies. In other words, most of the financial sector is failing to do what it takes to limit global warming to 1.5\u00b0C, including when they have made net-zero pledges.<\/p>\n This is the case of the main US Banks – Bank of America, Citi, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, and Morgan Stanley<\/a><\/span> – which are the biggest providers of loans and underwriting services to the coal industry, second only to Chinese banks. Their coal policies contain so many significant loopholes that they continue to finance coal expansionists, such as Glencore, Adani, and Mitsubishi almost without restraint.<\/p>\n This is the case of the biggest global investors like BlackRock and Vanguard, and of their European peers which are not doing much better. Indeed, our latest asset manager scorecard<\/a><\/span> showed that 23 out of the 30 asset managers assessed did not restrict investments in companies launching new coal projects. European giants such as UBS AM, DWS or Credit Suisse AM are among them.<\/p>\n<\/div> In August 2022, GFANZ leaders,\u00a0 Michael R. Bloomberg, Mark Carney, and Mary Schapiro, issued a statement entitled \u201cNo New Coal\u201d<\/a><\/span>, in which they stress that \u201cMembers of the net-zero financial sector alliances should identify and end any financing and investing in support of new coal activities.\u201d. The GCEL enables financial institutions to do just that.<\/p>\n While financial institutions should immediately commit to exit from the coal sector following a 1.5\u00b0C trajectory and condition future financial services to the adoption of a a credible coal phase-out plan (9), the top priority remains to stop all support to companies with coal expansion plans.<\/p>\n<\/div> As COP27 approaches, with a whole day dedicated to Finance on November 9, financial institutions must urgently heed the words of GFANZ leaders and comply with the <\/b>newly strengthened Race to Zero Criteria<\/b><\/a> which call on each member to \u201cphase out its development, financing, and facilitation of new unabated fossil fuel assets, including coal, in line with appropriate global science-based scenarios\u201d.\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>The tricks of the coal industry<\/h1><\/span>
Private finance remains the backbone of coal expansion<\/h1><\/span>
Time to get serious on coal<\/h1><\/span>