Global Coal Exit List 2024

GCEL is shaping new coal policies of financial institutions across the globe. GCEL currently provides coal-related data for almost 2800 companies, comprised of about 1500 parent companies and their subsidiaries. GCEL covers the whole coal universe.

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Coal mining from above / Mark Agnor, Shutterstock

We will publish GCEL 2025 on October 21 at 6 am CEST.
Until GCEL 2025 is online, user registration and data access will not be functioning at all times.

Why GCEL is Special

Urgewald created the Global Coal Exit List to give financial institutions a tool to move coal out of their portfolios. GCEL covers the entire thermal coal value chain from coal exploration and mining, to coal power production and coal gasification. Today, it is the most comprehensive public database on the global coal industry.

GCEL currently has over 600 users from the finance industry and has helped shape the coal policies of many financial institutions across the globe.

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"Urgewald’s GCEL is a powerful information system and played a significant role in financial institutions’ efforts to develop new coal policies."

Ostrum Asset Management

"The Global Coal Exit list is a valuable input to implement our coal policy on the insurance side, as it is the only data source that also assesses private companies."

Zurich Insurance Group

"The Global Coal Exit List has helped us to formulate criteria for the coal sector in the latest update of the Towards Sustainability Quality Standard. Furthermore, it is a high-quality and independent source of detailed information about coal-related activities that is not readily available elsewhere…"

Tom Van den Berghe, Managing Director

Towards Sustainability Label

"The Global Coal Exit List is a very well-researched database and a useful tool that helps us to operationalize our fossil fuel guideline."

Commerzbank

“The Global Coal Exit List is the go-to data source for coal expansion, production and generation, both from an academic research perspective and as a core input into our current project developing the Cambridge 1.5°C-aligned corporate bond index. This is what truly powerful data looks like.”

Lily Tomson, Senior Research Associate

Jesus College in the University of Cambridge

Metallurgical Coal Exit List

Metallurgical coal or ‘met coal’ is used for steelmaking and accounts for 13% of global coal production. The technology for green steel is available, and no new met coal mines can open in a 1.5°C-aligned aligned industry scenario. However, met coal production is still expanding. MCEL reveals 160 companies that are developing new met coal mines or are expanding existing ones.

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Credit: TR STOK / Shutterstock

Controversial Companies

The data on GCEL can't tell the full story of how coal companies are displacing communities, destroying ecosystems, violating environmental regulations, and wrecking peoples’ health. Here, we put a spotlight on some of the most controversial companies and their impacts.

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Credit: Ende Gelaende

Credible Coal Phase-out Plans

To keep the 1.5°C goal within reach, coal must be phased out in OECD and EU countries by 2030 and in the rest of the world by 2040. Up to now, however, only 161 of the over 2,900 companies listed on GCEL have announced a date for exiting coal. And out of these 161 companies, only 76 have announced a phase-out date that is in line with the 1.5°C goal.

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Demolition of coal-fired power station in Ferrybridge, Credit: bojangles / Shutterstock

About Urgewald

Urgewald was the driving force behind one of the biggest coal divestments to date. In 2015, Norway’s Government Pension Fund adopted a coal phase-out commitment that led it to divest US$ 6 billion from the industry. At the time, the Pension Fund was among the top 10 investors in the global coal industry. Its divestment triggered a domino effect in the finance industry. Between 2015 and 2017, Norway’s Pension Fund and the insurance giants Allianz and AXA collectively divested coal assets worth US$ 26 billion.

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Other Urgewald Projects

Global Oil & Gas Exit List

The Global Oil & Gas Exit List (GOGEL) is a tool for financial institutions looking to phase out all fossil fuels. GOGEL is the most comprehensive publicly available database on the oil & gas industry. GOGEL 2024 covers more than 1,700 companies active in the upstream, midstream or gas-fired power sector. Companies listed on GOGEL account for 95% of global oil and gas production. It is tailored to the needs of financial institutions looking to phase out fossil fuels. GOGEL's forward-looking data on companies’ expansion plans makes it easy to assess the credibility of transition strategies and enables its users to take the right steps to become responsible climate actors.

gogel.org

Still Banking on Coal

In November 2021, it looked like an end of coal was finally in sight. At COP26 in Glasgow, the governments of 197 countries agreed to phase down coal and many of the world’s largest commercial banks pledged to decarbonize their portfolios. But Still Banking on Coal shows that coal financing is still growing.
It’s as if Glasgow never happened!

Urgewald's research Still Banking on Coal uses the Global Coal Exit List to show that commercial banks still injected $385 billion into the industry since January 2022.

stillbankingoncoal.org

Global Coal Exit List 2024

We will publish GCEL 2025 on October 21 at 6 am CEST.
Until GCEL 2025 is online, user registration and data access will not be functioning at all times.