Asia now burns over 80% of the world's coal, at record highs

So what

Coal is not in retreat globally: world consumption hit a record 164 exajoules in 2023, still about a quarter of all energy use. Asia Pacific alone burned 136 EJ, up a fifth in a decade, while North America and Europe each roughly halved their use. Any decarbonisation thesis built on Western trends misses where the emissions are actually growing.