Countries pledge to phase out climate culprit coal

Several major coal-using nations are pledging for the first time to phase out their use of the heavily-polluting fossil fuel or to speed up their plans to do so

GLASGOW, Scotland -- Several major coal-using nations have pledged for the first time to phase out their use of the heavily-polluting fossil fuel or to speed up existing plans to do so, while others announced commitments to end investment in new coal-fired power plants.

U.K. business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng said late Wednesday that the commitments made on the sidelines of the U.N. climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland, meant the “end of coal is in sight.” But critics noted the several major economies still have not set a date for ending their dependence on the fuel that is a major source of planet-warming emissions.

The British government said pledges of new or earlier deadlines for ending coal use came from countries including Poland, Ukraine, Vietnam and Chile. Further details about which countries were doing what were to be announced Thursday at the conference, known as COP26.

While Kwarteng called the agreements a “milestone moment in our global efforts to tackle climate change," his counterpart in the opposition Labour Party’s said there were “glaring gaps” such as the lack of commitment from large emitters to stop increasing coal domestically.