Environmental campaigners have said countries gathering for the COP31 meeting do so at a time when the number of new coal projects is vastly outstripping the numbers which are being closed.

German environmental group Urgewald has released the annual update of the “Global Coal Exit List” (GCEL). GCEL what it described as the most comprehensive public database of companies operating across the thermal coal value chain, covering more than 1,500 parent companies and 1,150 subsidiaries.

It found while 76 planned coal projects were shelved or cancelled in 2025, 257 new coal projects were announced over the past year.

“For every shelved project, three new projects were announced,” says Pacôme David-Mauduit, senior researcher at Urgewald. “Instead of shrinking, the pipeline of new coal mining, power, chemicals and infrastructure assets under development has now grown to 1,510 projects. Over 40% of the companies listed on GCEL are currently developing new thermal coal assets,” he warned.

With the ongoing conflict in the Middle east resulting in the blockage of the Strait of Hormuz through which 20% of the world’s oil and gas are transited and ongoing restrictions ion Russian energy exports countries have been seeking new energy sources and coal has become a significant source of replacement power.

GCEL 2026 identified 335 coal power developers. Collectively, these companies are planning 606 new coal-fired power projects with a combined capacity of over 740 GW – an amount four times the size of the current US coal plant fleet.

It added the world’s largest coal power developer is the China Energy Investment Group which aims to build 44 GW of new coal-fired capacity. All in all, Chinese companies are responsible for 70% of the global coal plant pipeline. Next in line are Indian companies, which account for 18%. The remaining 12% are spread out over 33 countries, one of which is Türkiye, host of COP 31.

“In large parts of Europe, wind and solar have surpassed electricity generation from coal, yet Türkiye still lags behind,” the report added. “Together, solar and wind accounted for 22% of Türkiye’s electricity generation in 2025, but coal remained the country’s dominant energy source, accounting for 34% ofEnv generation.”

Urgewald said although many proposed coal projects were canceled in Türkiye over the past years, the government remains determined to expand the Afşin-Elbistan coal power station. While a court recently overturned the Environmental Impact Assessment for new units at the Afşin-Elbistan power plant, the ruling is being appealed by the Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change, which is led by COP 31 President Murat Kurum.

The Turkish government has put electrification at the center of its agenda for COP 31, but it continues providing over €2.4 billion annually in subsidies to the coal industry.

“Electrification without phasing out coal is like showering with polluted water. You can’t build a clean energy future on a dirty foundation,” comments Heffa Schücking, Director of Urgewald. “Türkiye’s reliance on imported fossil fuels leaves our already vulnerable economy exposed to fossil fuel crises,” says Duygu Kutluay from Beyond Fossil Fuels. “By making a commitment to no new coal alongside a just transition plan for a coal phase-out, Türkiye can demonstrate meaningful climate leadership during its COP 31 Presidency.”

GCEL 2026 identifies 357 coal mine developers that are opening up new thermal coal mines or expanding existing mines across 39 countries. Coal India is both the world’s largest thermal coal producer – producing 710 Mt in the last financial year – as well as the world’s largest coal mine developer with up to 552 Mtpa of new thermal capacity in the pipeline. In total, companies on GCEL plan to develop coal mining projects with a combined capacity of at least 3,271 Mtpa, equal to 41% of the world’s current thermal coal production.

Out of the 715 thermal coal mine expansion projects identified by GCEL, 251 are in China and 218 in India. While most of these projects are being developed for the power sector, the coal-to-chemicals industry has also become an important driver of coal mine expansion in both countries. To give an example: Until recently, the Sha’erhu District in Xinjiang only had active plans to develop one small 5 Mtpa mine. But this year, the local government decided to supply newly announced coal-to-chemical projects nearby, and now the district has four mining projects with a total planned capacity of 290 Mtpa. Within the last year, China’s planned coal-to-chemical development increased from 42 to 76 projects.

Urgewald explained: “Ironically, the country with the third largest pipeline of thermal coal mining projects will be leading the negotiations at COP 31. Australia is the world’s second-largest coal exporter and currently has 49 new thermal coal mines or mine extensions planned, 20 of which are greenfield mines. Australia’s top three coal mine developers are: Adani Enterprises (45 Mtpa), Whitehaven Coal (19 Mtpa) and Banpu Public Company (7 Mtpa).”

As the Climate Councillor and former Commissioner of Fire and Rescue NSW, Greg Mullins, says, “What we export as coal, we import back as bush fires, floods, heatwaves and droughts. Climate harm does not stop at the border and neither does the responsibility for it.”

According to the International Energy Agency, transitioning to a net-zero energy system by 2050 requires a phase-out of thermal coal usage by 2030 in advanced economies and by 2040 globally. Up to now, however, only a small minority of companies on GCEL have publicly committed to phasing out their coal assets.

Of the over 2,700 parent companies and subsidiaries on GCEL, only 142 have set phase-out dates for all of their coal assets. Five companies, in fact, dropped their coal phase-out plans this year, including Grand River Dam Authority in the USA and PT Cirebon Electric Power in Indonesia. Twelve companies have delayed their coal phase-out, although most of these were not aligned with the 2030/2040 deadline to begin with. Since last year, only 17 companies have effectively phased out their coal assets and were therefore removed from GCEL. Of these companies, 6 are headquartered in the USA and 2 in the Czech Republic.  Chile, Japan, India, Bulgaria, Brazil, Hungary, Thailand and Malaysia each have 1 company which phased-out coal.

Although the coal industry is rapidly losing ground as new solar, wind and battery storage capacity comes online, the overwhelming majority of companies on GCEL have neglected to adopt coal phase-out plans and are ill-prepared for a transition the report warned.

“Today, over 400 large financial institutions have adopted coal restriction policies,” Urgewald said. “Out of these, 130 policies explicitly exclude financing, investment and insurance of coal developers and 183 policies set firm dates for phasing coal out of financial portfolios.”

Where strong policies exist, these have real and measurable impact. According to research Urgewald published in September 2026, EU banks, for example, cut their coal financing by 46% in the last four years. And coal financing by banks from Malaysia, Thailand and Taiwan fell even further.

“It is high time for other financial actors to follow suit and for financial regulators to take action. Rising temperatures confirm that we can’t let coal linger,” added Schücking.