The employment impact of the coal transition in EU regions

The EU’s commitment to reduce its reliance on fossil fuels affects the employment of certain economic activities, such as the coal based industries and other upstream activities in EU territories. Future policy interventions to counter-balance the negative effects of decarbonisation on employment need to ensure appropriate alternatives in those regions that can be most potentially affected by the coal transition, either directly or indirectly. At national level, in 2017, there were 430,000 jobs that were directly or indirectly associated to coal production and coal-fired power plants in the EU, of which 46% were located in Poland, followed by Czechia and Romania. At regional level, the Silesian region in Poland hosted close to 90,000 jobs associated to coal based activities, followed by the Romanian South-West Oltenia and other regions in Czechia (North-West). Our results identify those regions potentially most affected by ceasing coal based activities in the EU, also taking into account upstream employment effects in other regions and industries. Our results could help the design of the upcoming “Industrial Decarbonisation Accelerator Act” aiming to decarbonise European industry, informing policy measures that could ensure fossil fuel use reduction, and the creation of new job opportunities in the territories negatively affected by the transition.