Super Polluters

The world’s dirtiest power plants have a disproportionate impact on climate change. Nearly all fired by coal, closing these plants could accelerate the global transition to net zero.

So what would it take to close them? 

In Context’s new series, our correspondents take a closer look at the opportunities and challenges presented by tackling Super Polluters. We spoke to coal miners, plant workers, politicians and more to understand what the barriers are.

From the city depending on Europe’s largest power plant, to India’s energy capital ravaged by health issues, our reporting gets to the heart of one of the biggest challenges facing the world today.

As leaders consider the future of coal, what will it take to slash emissions from the world’s dirtiest power plants? And how can the communities which depend on them find a green future? 


A man rides a bike through the coal storage in Port Gdanski Eksploatacja, Gdansk, Poland, December 5, 2022. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel
Just Transition

How do coal-fired power plants help drive climate change?

Success at COP29 hinges on China and India, but there is still time to switch from coal and save the planet, experts say

A construction worker pushes a wheelbarrow in front of the Yushen Yuheng power plant, a coal-fired power plant under construction, in Yulin, Shaanxi province, China November 21, 2023. REUTERS/Colleen Howe
Just Transition

Why is China upping coal power despite green energy boom?

The world's largest polluter continues to build coal-fired power plants alongside renewable energy investments

Just Transition

Workers at Europe's dirtiest power plant wary of life after coal

Poland's Bełchatów is one of the world's most polluting coal plants, but can its community find a green future?

Just Transition

The energy capital powering India and poisoning its residents

India's super-polluter Vindhyachal plant experiments with carbon capture, but trial fails to appease local coal concerns

A man walks as smoke and steam billow from Belchatow Power Station, Europe's largest coal-fired power plant, in Rogowiec, Poland, November 22, 2023. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel
Just Transition

Super polluting coal plants fuel economies and the climate crisis

Moving on from the world's dirtiest power plants presents a huge climate opportunity but social risk