Multi-stakeholder initiatives have taken to the stage at COP30 to present new work to help governments and utilities accelerate the transition away from coal, including by exploring how flexible operation of certain coal plants could be designed to be credible in the eyes of private investors.

The Coal Transition Commission, which was established in 2023 by the French and Indonesian governments, this week also presented a report on how to grow the pipeline of coal retirement projects.

The initiative has been supported by the Powering Past Coal Alliance (PPCA), which last week set out a new plan to speed up the shift from coal to clean power.

The publication of the new reports comes as the transition away from fossil fuels has become a focal point for this year’s United Nations climate change summit. Two years ago, COP30 reached an agreement that included a call for a “transitioning away from fossil fuels”, but little progress on fleshing this out has been made so far.  

This week, Brazil and South Korea announced at COP30 in Belém that they will join the PPCA, with South Korea pledging to stop building new unabated coal-fired power plants.

Mobilising capital

Speaking to IPE this week, Julia Skorupska, head of secretariat at the PPCA, said the Coal Transition Commission’s work responds to a practical bottleneck.

Although there is growing interest in backing early coal retirement, investors “find it quite hard to find projects,” she said.

According to one of the Coal Transition Commission’s new reports, there is roughly 150GW of global coal capacity where existing financial structures could accelerate retirement.

“This is a pipeline of 150GW that is realistically investable,” Skorupska said, adding that both public and private capital will be needed to mobilise coal-to-clean transitions.

“We are calling on governments to clearly set out what their transition plans are,” she noted.

In another report, the Coal Transition Commission explores how operating coal assets in a flexible way can help integrate renewables, although noting that coal flexibility “may only attract international finance if paired with a firm retirement commitment” and other guardrails, given the reputational and financial risks facing investors if they get involved.

Coal is the largest source of electricity in the world, representing more than a third of global generation and over 40% of energy-sector carbon emissions.

Last year, the Coal Transition Commission called for investment into decarbonising coal plants to be labelled as “transition finance”.

Beyond banks

According to the Commission’s latest analysis, a substantial portion of the global coal fleet, particularly younger independent power producer plants in Asia, can be refinanced, re-leveraged and retired early while simultaneously adding new clean generation.

While most engagement to date has been with banks, Skorupska said there is significant scope for institutional investors given their longer risk horizons.

Speaking at a Coal Transition Commission COP30 event in Brazil this week, Anjali Viswamohanan, director of policy at the Asia Investor Group on Climate Change, said: “93% of the investors that we work with have made commitments on fossil fuel policies, which means that they will reduce their investment exposure to fossil going forward. We enable investors to engage with the highest-emitting utilities across Asia on their transition plans, their net zero commitments, and their capital allocation.” 

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