An important decision to phase out coal from power generation by 2030 was taken by an international alliance of at least 15 countries at the UN climate talks in Bonn. In the wake of global warming raising its hood and triggering drastic climate changes, there is an effort to involve at least 50 countries in this endeavor by the next climate talks which is slated to be held in Poland’s Katowice in 2018.

Britain, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Italy, France, the Netherlands, Portugal, Belgium, Switzerland, New Zealand, Ethiopia, Mexico and the Marshall Islands have joined the Powering Past Coal Alliance, delegates said.

However,  some of the world’s biggest coal users, such as China, the United States, Germany and Russia, have not joined the alliance. The countries formed the alliance just a few days after U.S. administration officials, along with energy company representatives, led a side event at the talks to promote “fossil fuels and nuclear power in climate mitigation.”Britain, Canada and the Marshall Islands took up the initiative to start the alliance and urged other nations to join them.

Mohamed Adow, international climate lead at Christian Aid said, “It is a rebuke to (President) Donald Trump from the UK and Canada, two of America’s closest allies, that his obsession for dirty energy will not spread.”

Many countries have made national plans to phase out coal from their power supply mix post the signing of the Paris Agreement in 2015, which aims to wean the world off fossil fuels.