Workers at a coal wholesale market in Mumbai, India.
Burning coal is both a proven way to lift hundreds of millions of people out of poverty and the most dangerous fuel driving global warming. The United Nations has set itself the goal of reconciling these two things, and the results are shaky at best.
Despite aggressive investments in solar-powered electricity almost everywhere, erasing energy poverty also means more coal for developing countries, and India is the developing world’s most ardent defender of its use.
Photographer: Dhiraj Singh/Bloomberg
