One of the world’s leading environmental experts has said that quitting coal energy must be one of the biggest priorities for all major nations ahead of the COP26 climate summit later this year.

With the summit set for Glasgow in the Autumn,Dr Fatih Birol, leader of the International Energy Agency, has said that cutting out the dirtiest of fossil fuels will be an important step in achieving the goal of limiting temperatures to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels by the end of the century.

Speaking to The Independent newspaper, Dr Birol said that the coal-issue has to be top of the agenda.

“I think it is for me the single most important issue today,” Dr Birol said.

“I was disappointed that despite all the rhetoric and expectations that the world would come out of Covid in a more sustainable manner, we see that the economic recovery colour is brown, not green.

“Coal plants are today responsible for about one-third of all emissions and it is therefore important to do two things when it comes to coal,” said Dr Birol. “One, to not build new coal plants and second – maybe more critically – to come up with a plan for dealing with existing coal plants, especially in Asia.

“In Europe and the US, we have coal plants but they are on average about 40 to 43 years old, which is close to the retirement age of about 45 years. But in Asia, the average age is about 11 years old – they are far from retirement.

“How are we going to provide incentives for early retirement for those coal plants, especially in countries with lower income levels? For me, this is a burning question.”

Analysis by the International Energy Agency has found that CO2 emissions are heading for their second biggest annual spike in history, with a return to coal power following global lockdowns at the heart of the problem.