Tipping Point | End of coal power in the UK, Fridays for Future

| Video Credit:
The Hindu

The United Kingdom is moving away from coal power for good. On September 30, the 2,000-megawatt Ratcliffe coal plant in Nottinghamshire will shut operations, ending the U.K.’s 142-year-long tryst with coal power.

Is moving away from coal a good step? Definitely. Every step away from dependence on fossil fuels counts towards controlling emissions and global warming. Is it enough? Well, the UK has historically been the fourth largest contributor of carbon dioxide emissions, and should lead in phasing out fossil fuel dependence by setting a stronger example. 

This week’s extreme weather event of note is the Sumatra Squall that hit Singapore on September 17, bringing strong winds and heavy rain to the tiny city-state on the southern tip of the Malay peninsula.

Fridays for Future, a youth-led international movement to highlight the lack of action on climate crisis, is our this week’s source of climate hope. 

On September 20, young college students and activists planned a march to the Delhi secretariat in the national capital as part of the Global Climate Strike.

Their demands include an immediate reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, a transition to renewable energy, climate education and awareness, and to transform Delhi into a cycling-friendly city. 

Presentation: Priyali Prakash

Video: Zeeshan Akhtar and Aniket Singh Chauhan

Production: Aniket Singh Chauhan

Environment Ministers from the G7, which includes Canada, France, Germany, Japan, the U.K. and the U.S., pose for a photo during of Minister’s Meeting On Climate, Energy & Environment on April 29, 2024 in Turin, Italy.
| Photo Credit: Getty Images

Energy Ministers from the Group of Seven (G7) major democracies agreed on Tuesday to end the use of coal in power generation “during the first half of (the) 2030s”, according to an official communique.

However, in a caveat, the statement included an alternative goal of phasing out coal-fired power plants “in a timeline consistent with keeping a limit of a 1.5°C temperature rise within reach, in line with countries’ net-zero pathways”.

The caveat was included in the final wording of the communique to grant room for manoeuvre to Germany and Japan, whose coal-fired plants produce more than one-fourth of their total electricity, diplomatic sources had told Reuters.

Germany has written into its legislation a final target to shut coal plants by 2038 at the latest, while Japan has not set a date.

The agreement on coal marks a significant step in the direction indicated last year by the COP28 United Nations climate summit to phase out fossil fuels, of which coal is the most polluting.

Italy, the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Canada and Japan also said they recognize that cutting Russian energy revenues is essential to support Ukraine and promised to work on transitioning away from imports of Russian gas.

They, however, did not agree any common position on potential sanctions on Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG).