Despite international efforts to decrease dependence on coal to produce electricity, the International Energy Agency (IEA) revealed that global coal consumption was 65 percent higher today than it was in 2000. The news was released immediately after the conclusion of the UN Climate Change Conference (COP25) in Madrid last month, and it was significant that the Paris-based body waited until the event had finished before releasing this singularly unpalatable statistic to the public. This means that global demand for coal is progressively increasing to meet the growing demand for electricity. So should we be applying our scrutiny of all fossil fuel carbon emissions equally (coal, oil and gas) when it is demonstrably coal that is responsible for most carbon emissions? Coal is the elephant in the room of carbon emissions, with the elephant-sized carbon footprint to boot. Increasing coal consumption is a solid slap to the face of the Paris Climate Change Agreement and everything that it aspres to. Coal remains the largest single source for generating electricity in the world, particularly so in Asia with countries such as India, Indonesia, and Vietnam not to mention China, relying heavily on the fossil fuel. When we consider how the Paris Agreement has failed to reduce coal consumption in the largest consuming nations, it seems particularly hard to swallow all the regulatory scrutiny that oil and gas continues to receive from both regulatory institutions and the world’s media. Over the last three years, $745 billion has been loaned to companies planning to build new coalfired power plants, which we should remember, will be operational for decades. As the world continues to demonize oil, it may be time to refocus our attention elsewhere and think seriously about dethroning old king coal. • Faisal Faeq is an energy and oil marketing advisor, formerly with OPEC and Saudi Aramco. Twitter: @faisalfaeq Disclaimer: Views expressed by writers in this section are their own and do not necessarily reflect Arab News" point-of-view