Global consumption of coal reached a record high in 2024, a stark new report reveals, casting a shadow over the world’s transition to clean energy and jeopardizing international climate targets.
The findings, from the annual State of Climate Action report, paint a grim picture of a world struggling to wean itself off fossil fuels. Despite “exponential” growth in renewable energy, overall greenhouse gas emissions continue to climb, pushing the goal of limiting global heating to 1.5°C further out of reach.
The Clean Energy Paradox
The central paradox identified in the report is that the rapid rollout of renewables like solar and wind is not yet displacing fossil fuels; it is merely supplementing a growing global appetite for electricity. While the share of coal in the power generation mix has dipped, the sheer volume of electricity demanded has forced an increase in absolute coal use.
“There’s no doubt that we are largely doing the right things. We are just not moving fast enough,” said Clea Schumer, a research associate at the World Resources Institute (WRI), which led the report. “For the fifth report in a row, efforts to phase out coal are well off track. The message is crystal clear: we simply will not limit warming to 1.5°C if coal use keeps breaking records.”
This creates a critical challenge for climate strategy. Electrifying sectors like transport and heating is essential for decarbonization, but this only yields climate benefits if the electricity grid itself is clean. “A power system that relies on fossil fuels has huge cascading and knock-on effects,” Schumer warned.
Political Headwinds and Global Divergence
The report highlights a stark political divide. Despite a global commitment to “phase down” coal made in 2021, some major economies are doubling down.
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In India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently celebrated surpassing one billion tonnes of domestic coal production.
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In the United States, former President Donald Trump has declared unwavering support for coal and other fossil fuels, pledging to roll back incentives for renewables.
While Trump’s policies have not yet resulted in a significant spike in U.S. emissions, the report suggests they threaten to slow future progress. However, this impact could be blunted by continued aggressive clean energy deployment in other major economies like China and the European Union.
“There’s no question that the United States’ recent attacks on clean energy make it more challenging for the world to keep the Paris agreement goal within reach,” said Sophie Boehm, a senior research associate at WRI and a lead author. “But the broader transition is much bigger than any one country. Momentum is building across emerging economies, where clean energy has become the cheapest, most reliable path to economic growth and energy security.”
Glimmers of Hope Amidst Widespread Failure
The news is not uniformly bleak. The report confirms the staggering rise of renewables, naming solar “the fastest-growing power source in history.” Electric vehicle adoption is also accelerating, with more than one in five new cars sold globally in 2023 being electric—a figure that rises to nearly half in China.
Yet, these success stories are the exception. The report analyzed 45 key climate indicators and found that none are on track to meet their 2030 targets. The growth of solar and wind power needs to double annually to align with necessary emissions cuts. Other sectors are lagging even further behind:
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Heating and Industry: Progress on energy efficiency, particularly in decarbonizing building heating and industrial processes, is far too slow. Alarmingly, the steel industry’s “carbon intensity”—the emissions per tonne of steel produced—has been increasing.
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Vanishing Carbon Sinks: The world’s natural carbon sinks—forests, peatlands, and oceans—are under severe threat. In 2024, over 8 million hectares (20 million acres) of forest were permanently lost. While this is down from a 2017 peak, it represents a step back from 2021 levels. The world needs to move nine times faster to halt and reverse deforestation.
The Crucial Test at COP30
The findings set a sobering stage for the upcoming COP30 UN climate summit in Brazil. World leaders are expected to arrive with new national climate plans (Nationally Determined Contributions). However, it is already clear that the collective ambition of these plans will be inadequate to close the emissions gap.
The pivotal question for the summit will no longer be about acknowledging the problem, but about how countries respond to their collective failure. Will they commit to the radical acceleration required—phasing out coal at an unprecedented pace, supercharging the renewables revolution, and halting deforestation—or will the 1.5°C target slip from possibility to pipedream?
The record-breaking coal use in 2024 is a definitive answer to the world’s current efforts: they are not enough.
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