New coal projects around globe outnumber those cancelled three to one, report says

Become an Independent member to bookmark this article Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Membership today. Join today Already a member? Log in Plans for new coal projects are outpacing cancellations three to one worldwide, including in Turkey and Australia , the hosts of this year's Cop31 climate summit, according to a database of the coal industry. Urgewald, a German environmental group, said in the latest update of its Global Coal Exit List on Tuesday that 257 new coal projects were announced over the past year, while 76 planned projects were shelved or cancelled in 2025. The pipeline of new coal mining, power, chemicals and infrastructure projects has grown to 1,510, and more than 40 per cent of the listed companies are developing new thermal coal assets. "For every shelved project, three new projects were announced," Pacôme David-Mauduit, a senior researcher at Urgewald, said. The list identifies 335 companies planning 606 new coal-fired power projects with a combined capacity of more than 740 gigawatts, which Urgewald says is four times the size of the US coal plant fleet. A further 357 companies are opening or expanding thermal coal mines across 39 countries, with planned capacity of at least 3,271 million tonnes a year, equal to 41 per cent of current world thermal coal production, according to Urgewald. Climate activists stage a protest inside the UN climate conference venue to demand a phase out of fossil fuels ( AFP/Getty ) Australia, which will lead the Cop31 negotiations, has the world's third-largest pipeline of thermal coal mining projects, with 49 new mines or extensions planned, 20 of them greenfield, Urgewald said. It is also the world's second-largest coal exporter. "The real proof of Australia's climate leadership is not in its speeches at Cop31, but in its actions at home. That's what the world will be watching," said Heffa Schücking, director of Urgewald. Australia signed the Belém Declaration on a roadmap away from fossil fuels at Cop30 but is one of the few OECD countries without a coal phase-out date, Urgewald said. In Turkey, coal was the largest source of electricity in 2025 at 34 per cent of generation, ahead of wind and solar at 22 per cent, according to figures cited by Urgewald. Turkey has put electrification at the centre of its Cop31 agenda but gives more than €2.4 billion (about £2.1bn) a year in subsidies to the coal industry, Urgewald said. "Electrification without phasing out coal is like showering with polluted water. You can't build a clean energy future on a dirty foundation," Ms Schücking said. Only 142 of the more than 2,700 companies on the list have set phase-out dates for all their coal assets, according to Urgewald. More than 400 financial institutions have adopted coal restriction policies, and EU banks cut their coal financing by 46 per cent in the last four years, the group said.