Coal development projects slashed by 40% in 2 years, as 1.8 billion tonnes of mining capacity remain in planning
Ryan Driskell Tate, Program Director – Coal
April 17, 2023
Synopsis
Coal producers have cut almost 40% of their new mine
development and expansion plans since 2021. 895 million tonnes of proposed coal
mine capacity has been canceled or gone dark in public reporting. However, 393
new coal mine projects with the potential to produce 1.8 billion tonnes of coal
per year remain incongruous with the Paris Agreement targets. Global coal
producers opened new mines in 2022, especially in China and India, putting 555
million tonnes of new capacity into operation and proposing a slate of new
projects, with 897 million tonnes of new capacity planned for development.
San Francisco, U.S. – Coal producers have slashed nearly 40%
of their new mine development and expansion plans since 2021, according to new
data from Global Energy Monitor’s Global Coal Mine Tracker. Altogether, 895
million tonnes of proposed coal mine capacity has been either outright canceled
or gone dark in public reporting, showing no sign of ongoing progress in the
past 2-4 years.
Despite the severity of coal’s collapse in much of the
world, 393 new coal mine projects, with the potential to produce 1.8 billion
tonnes of coal per year remain in planning and incongruous with the 1.5°
Celsius targets of the Paris Agreement.
Global Energy Monitor’s survey of coal mine proposals found
that in January 2021 coal operators had 432 new mines under development, with
2.2 billion tonnes of capacity in planning, enough to boost global coal supply
30%. Yet over the course of the year, producers reduced their development
projects nearly 20% with 325 million tonnes shelved and 102 million tonnes
canceled.
But the trend reversed globally in 2022 after intertwined
energy crises and high coal prices rallied the world coal supply to a record
level of 8 billion tonnes. In the beginning of the year, coal producers in much
of the world had continued to scale back projects, axing 209 million tonnes of
proposed capacity. But state-owned enterprises and small private firms
forestalled the rundown in projects when they mobilized mid year to mine new
coal to sustain energy independence.
As a result, global coal producers opened new mines in 2022,
especially in China and India, putting 555 million tonnes of new capacity into
operation, and proposing a slate of new projects, with 897 million tonnes of
new capacity planned for development, a surge that countervailed reductions
elsewhere.
The International Energy Agency has stated that no new mines
or mine expansions are necessary to achieve Net Zero in 2050, and UN
secretary-general António Guterres has said that all planned coal projects must
be canceled around the world.
The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) and several
partners found in 2021 that coal production must also fall 11% each year
through 2030 to keep global warming below 1.5° Celsius. If realized, these new
mine projects would necessitate even steeper cuts to coal production in the
future.
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