Japan and China lent more than $35 billion to finance coal power in the eight years through the end of 2014, according to environmental groups in a study that urged countries to stop supporting the fuel.

Japan provided more than $20 billion, followed by $15 billion from China, according to the joint study by the Natural Resources Defense Council, Oil Change International and the World Wide Fund for Nature.

South Korea and Germany each provided $7 billion, trailed by the U.S. with $4 billion. The top five countries accounted for more than 80 percent of the coal financing from the countries reviewed by the groups.