Coal power generation fell last year globally but coal capacity grew. (Photo: AFP)
The world built and commissioned more coal power in 2025, but used the polluting fuel less, with the United States the only major economy to substantially increase generation, a new analysis shows.Coal is a key contributor to planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions, and phasing it out is crucial to taming climate change.
The growing affordability and abundance of renewable energy means solar and wind power can now cover growing electricity demand in much of the world.
That helped push coal generation down globally by 0.6% in 2025 from a year earlier, according to a new report from Global Energy Monitor, which has tracked coal power for more than a decade.
But despite the generation drop, coal power capacity — plants that came online or were commissioned — jumped 3.5% last year.
