IEA Cuts Coal Demand Forecast for Fifth Year in a Row

Global coal use is flatlining as China continues to restructure its economy, says influential energy think-tank

The volume of coal used across the world fell for the second year running in 2015 and is set to stay below peak levels in 2016.1

That was reported by the International Energy Agency – an autonomous Paris-based organisation – on Monday as it downgraded its medium-term coal market forecast for the fifth year in a row.

The influential think-tank expects demand to plateau until 2021, but not fall fast enough to align with the international goal of holding global warming below 2C.

China will be critical, as the consumer of half the world’s coal.  There remains “a large degree of uncertainty” around its trajectory, said Keisuke Sadamori, director of energy markets at IEA.

Last year’s historic climate deal in Paris put the writing on the wall for fossil fuels, the biggest source of greenhouse gases.  Yet a shift away from the most polluting – coal – in the US and Europe is being matched by an energy boom in emerging Asian economies.

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