Don’t count on a breakthrough at COP26.

So far, the most evident theme to have come from COP26 has been the division between the Global South and the Global North & between energy consumers and energy producers. There has definitely been some limited successes achieved – however it is unlikely that a major breakthrough will happen as the conference progresses. One of the main agendas of the COP26 conference was the aim to ban coal encouraged by the G20 countries. However, coal is still a main focus in Asia. Asia’s largest coal consumers India and China have been withholding any coal commitments as they see coal as a key part of their capacity. In Asia alone, there are 200 coal fired plants currently under construction.

In other news, nearly half of the UKs energy suppliers have left the market this year. 2021 holds the record for the most supplier exits in a single year. While the natural gas crunch in Europe has transformed into a worldwide energy crisis, the UK energy market has been thrown into turmoil seeing so many suppliers leave the market. As a consequence, the largest suppliers have increased their market share from 68.5% to 70.1%.