The government of the UK today announced a new commitment to introduce legislation restricting new coal mine licenses, setting the country up as one of the first to effectively ban coal mining. The legislation will be launched as soon as possible, the government said.

According to the IEA, coal is by far the largest source of energy-based CO2 emissions, accounting for 45% of emissions from fuel combustion in 2022, ahead of oil at 33%. Coal also remains one of the top sources of energy supply globally, at 28% of supply in 2022, behind oil at 30%. In a 2022 report, the IEA estimated that nearly $10 trillion in investments by 2050 in the energy sector alone would be required to finance the transition away from coal-powered electricity.

The UK has been actively reducing its exposure to coal, eliminating it as an energy source earlier this year with the closure of the last coal plant in the country in September. As recently as 2012, coal accounted for around 40% of the UK’s electricity supply.

In a statement announcing the new commitment, the government said:

“Coal power remains the largest source of energy-related CO2 emissions globally. Phasing it out is a crucial step to tackling climate change and limiting global temperature rises to 1.5C, while providing important health benefits through improved air quality.”

The new commitment follows the announcement by Prime Minister Keir Starmer at the COP29 climate conference that the UK will introduce a new Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) with a target to cut UK greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 81% by 2035. In addition to the new goal, and the closing of the last coal plant, Starmer highlighted several of his new government’s climate actions since being elected in July, including scrapping a ban on onshore wind, committing to no new North Sea oil and gas licenses, launching Great British Energy, which will invest, own and manage clean energy projects with over $10 billion backing from the government, and committing to investing up to £21.7 billion over the next 25 years for the development of two new “carbon capture clusters” capable of removing and storing more than 8.5 million tonnes of industrial carbon emissions per year.

Energy Minister Michael Shanks said:

“Coal mining powered this country for over 140 years and we owe a huge debt to workers who kept the lights on for homes and businesses across the country.

“Now the UK is in prime position to lead the way in phasing out coal power around the world, which remains the single largest contributor to global emissions.”