Lessons from previous coal transitions

June 27 2017
Report based on a study covering the Czech Republic, Spain, the Netherlands, Poland, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Will the climate agreement reached at the COP in Paris in 2015 on global CO2 reductions contribute to a reduction in coal consumption in countries where coal continues to be important? What will be the social and economic consequences of this agreement? IDDRI and Climate Strategies – the leaders of the Coal Transitions project, whose Polish partner is the Institute for Structural Research (IBS) – presented a report containing conclusions about transformation in the mining industry in the: Czech Republic, Spain, the Netherlands, Poland, the United Kingdom and the United States.

The most important theses of the report:

  1. The transition out of coal is inevitable
  2. If well-anticipated, and actively managed, just transitions are possible
  3. Time is running short for the “just transition”
  4. In purely economic terms, the costs of a managed transition are often lower than the costs of no transition
  5. Key recommendations that are essential to enable a just transition:
  • forging basic consensus between stakeholders on the essential questions of ‘whether and why’ to transition
  • governments using their leverage early on to promote constructive social dialogue
  • stakeholders developing a transition plan that they have ownership of and that reflects local circumstances

The report has been published on the Coal Transitions website -> report (press summary).

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