Coal Phase-Out and Just Transitions: Lessons Learned from Europe
January 24, 2023
Summary
All scenarios compatible with meeting the Paris Agreement’s 1.5oC temperature limit require a rapid decline in coal use. This transformation requires an enormous shift in resources and employment, creating the risk of stranded workers, communities, and corporations. Governments should allocate sufficient resources to support the groups who bear the greatest risk of the transition.
Countries that are now planning a just transition away from coal can learn from experiences of historic and ongoing coal transitions in Europe. This report examines the impact of coal transitions on the workers, communities, and corporations in several European countries and explores the processes, policies, and programmes implemented to manage the transition. Lessons are distilled from the case studies with consideration of case-specific contexts.
The decline of the coal industry has, especially in monolithic economies, left a massive gap in the labour market. Countries have experimented with a broad range of policies and programmes to manage this structural change, with many similarities across cases. This experimentation provides valuable insights into which measures worked, which didn’t, and why.
You can read or download the full report below.
Hot Reports
Covid-19 and a Just Transition in India's Coal Mining Sector
The COVID 19 pandemic hit India hard in early 2020, with negative GDP growth and a surge in unemployment. In the energy sector, coal fired power generation was already under pressure from overcapacity, low electricity demand growth, and increasingly competitive renewables.
Considerations for a Just and Equitable Energy Transition
As the energy transition accelerates, it is our responsibility, it is our opportunity, to ensure that in addition to contributing to a healthy planet by replacing fossil fuels with clean energy sources, this is accomplished in a just and equitable manner providing prosperity for all.
*We post information pursuant to the U.S. Fair Use Doctrine, and applicable international standards, in order to advance the knowledge base and education of our global audience. We endeavor to include the original link to documents. However, upon requests of original authors of posted documents, where explicit use permission is not granted, we will remove documents if it is determined continued use is not appropriate. We also reserve the full right to not include, or remove, any data inconsistent with our mission.