A fundamental step towards decarbonization is the fossil fuel phase-out process. After long periods of public financial support of these uncompetitive sectors, coal power plants and mining facilities are being gradually shut down in the European Union. To be in line with the UN Paris Climate Agreement European and OECD countries should be coal-power free by 2030 at the latest. However, not all the countries are aligned with this commitment.
So called “Just Transition” regulations may bring undesired consequences for different collectives in the communities where they are being implemented. Despite the interest in achieving fair policies oriented towards the prevention and mitigation of climate change, these may fall short in their goal of “leaving no one behind”, and unexpected outcomes may arise in different social areas. Income reduction, inequality increase, unemployment, job quality deterioration, depopulation, breakdown of social fabric or cultural and identity crises are among the list of threats and challenges that these communities may face.
This webinar aims at generating a joint debate on the socioeconomic consequences of the closure of mining facilities and coal power plants, and the potential actions to be taken to mitigate these impacts.
*Since 2012, total coal power generation has dropped by almost a third in the EU. Between 2022 and 2023, brown coal supply decreased by 24.2% to 222 840 million tonnes, and hard coal supply dropped by 20.4% to 130 437 million tonnes, according to Eurostat. The declining use of coal has caused mines to close down and power plants to be decommissioned in a number of regions across Europe. Coal activities offered direct employment to around 208 000 people across Europe in 2021 and 76% of these jobs were in the mining sector. This is a decrease of almost 37% in the number of jobs indirectly related to the coal sector in the EU compared to data in the EU coal regions report from 2018. The countries with the highest number of jobs in the sector are Poland, Germany, Czechia, Romania and Bulgaria.
Moderator:
- Alejandra Chávez, Climate Justice and Just Energy Transition Advocacy Lead, Oxfam Intermón.
Speakers:
- Azahara Merino, Environmental Specialist, CCOO (Spanish Trade Union)
- Kamila Svobodova, Associate Professor of Applied & Landscape Ecology, Czech University of Life Sciences.
- Marie Claire Brisbois, Associate Professor of Energy Policy in the Science Policy Research Unit, University of Sussex.
Agenda
09.30 – 09.40 Welcome and introduction to the agenda.
09.40 – 09.45 Introduction to the topic
09.45 – 10.35 Panel: Socio-economic consequences of the Just Transition: the coal phase-out.
10.35 – 10.55 Q&A session
10.55 – 11.00 Closing remarks
Join us at the upcoming GreenPaths webinar on 25 February at 09:30 CET. Join the GreenPaths team along with experts in the topic such as Azahara Merino, Kamila Svobodova and Marie Claire Brisbois.
Check out all GreenPaths videos in the GreenPaths Youtube Channel