As world leaders and thousands of researchers, activists and lobbyists meet in Brazil at the 30th annual United Nations climate conference, there is plenty of frustration that the world isn’t making progress on climate change fast enough. Globally, greenhouse gas emissions and global temperatures continue to rise. In the US, the Trump administration, which didn’t send an official delegation to the climate talks, is rolling back environmental and energy regulations and pressuring other countries to boost their use of fossil fuels – the leading driver of climate change.

Coal use is also rising, particularly in India and China. And debates rage about justice and the future for coal-dependent communities as coal burning and coal mining end. But underneath the bad news is a set of complex, contradictory and sometimes hopeful developments. Coal is the dirtiest source of fossil fuel energy and a major contributor of greenhouse gas emissions, making it bad not just for the climate but also for human health. That makes coal a good target for cutting global emissions. A swift drop in coal use is the main reason US greenhouse gas emissions fell in recent years as natural gas and renewable energy became cheaper. Today, nearly a third of all countries worldwide have pledged to phase out their unabated coal-burning power plants in the coming years, including several countries you might not expect.

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Germany, Spain, Malaysia, the Czech Republic – all have substantial coal reserves and........

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