A steep increase in coal plant development in China offset a retreat from coal in the rest of the world in 2020, resulting in the first increase in global coal capacity development since 2015. A record- tying 37.8 gigawatts (GW) of coal plants were retired in 2020, led by the U.S. with 11.3 GW and EU27 with 10.1 GW, but these retirements were eclipsed by China’s 38.4 GW of new coal plants. China commissioned 76% of the world’s new coal plants in 2020, up from 64% in 2019, driving a 12.5 GW increase in the global coal fleet in 2020.

The proposal and construction boom in China began taking off in March 2020 as provinces used coal projects to stimulate their economies in the wake of the economic slowdown from the Covid-19 pandemic. Although initiated at the province level, the boom was enabled by loosened restric-tions on new coal plant permits and increased lending for coal mega-proj-ects by the central government. Yet in 2021, China’s Central Environment Inspection Group issued an unprecedented report criticizing the National Energy Administration for lax enforcement of the countryʼs restrictions on coal development, suggesting China’s coal boom may soon be clamped down. In late 2021, the central government is expected to release its targets for coal power in the energy sector plan, although the modest targets set for non-fossil energy in the country’s 14th Five Year Plan (2021–2025) suggest coal power generation will continue to grow through 2025.

Outside China, several Asian countries announced that they are cancelling or reconsidering new coal power projects, while Japan and South Korea pledged to reach net zero CO2 emissions by 2050. These policy shifts, along with the Covid-19 pandemic, contributed to a collapse of the coal plant pipeline in south and southeast Asia as the global demand for electricity shrank, national economies contracted, and coal plant projects struggled to obtain financing. Indonesia, Bangladesh, the Philippines, and Vietnam moved to cancel 62.0 GW of planned coal power capacity. The cancellations