Over 40 Countries Agree to Quit Coal, India China, US and Australia are Mum

The major deal announced at the climate summit in Glasgow on Thursday included 23 countries that are promising to stop building and issuing permits for new coal plants for the first time.

But the U.S., China, India and Australia — all major coal producers or consumers — were not part of the pact. Observers in Glasgow said they were disappointed in the absence of the U.S. from the sweeping pledge to phase out the use of coal. The decision appeared to be driven by U.S. domestic politics.

Among those countries that did sign on, however, are five of the world’s top 20 power-generating countries: Poland, Indonesia, South Korea, Vietnam and Ukraine.

The Biden administration did join a pledge to end financing for unabated oil and gas, as well as coal, in other countries by the end of next year. That move will steer public financing away from fossil fuels.

Alok Sharma, the British politician who heads the COP26 conference, declared that “the end of coal is in sight.”

Few details: The promise to phase out coal, which is the single biggest source of planet-warming carbon dioxide emissions worldwide, was short on specifics and offered leeway in phaseout dates. Future presidents could also reverse the progress.