South Korea pledges to retire 40 coal-fired power plants by 2040

By 2040, South Korea intends to shut down 40 of the 62 coal-fired power plants now in operation to reduce the country's reliance on the fossil fuel, according to an announcement made during the COP30 climate summit in Brazil, a big move for the world's fourth-largest coal importer. Seoul will determine the retirement timeline for the remaining 22 plants after public consultations next year, multiple media outlets have reported.

South Korea also confirmed it will join the Powering Past Coal Alliance (PPCA), becoming the second Asian nation after Singapore to do so. The coalition, launched by the U.K. and Canada in 2017, focuses on eliminating unabated coal power, a term for coal-based power without emissions-reduction technologies such as