China and India will see the biggest coal job losses and need to plan support for affected communities, Global Energy Monitor warns
The global coal industry may have to shed nearly 1 million jobs by 2050, even without any further pledges to phase out fossil fuels, with China and India facing the biggest losses, research showed on Tuesday.
Hundreds of labour-intensive mines are expected to close in the coming decades as they reach the end of their lifespans and countries replace coal with cleaner low-carbon energy sources.
But most of the mines likely to shut down “have no planning underway to extend the life of those operations or to manage a transition to a post-coal economy,” US-based think tank Global Energy Monitor (GEM) warned.
Dorothy Mei, project manager for GEM’s Global Coal Mine Tracker, said governments needed to make plans to ensure workers do not suffer from the energy transition.
“Coal mine closures are inevitable, but economic hardship and social strife for workers are not,” she said.
GEM looked at 4,300 active and proposed coal mine projects around the world covering a total workforce of nearly 2.7 million. It found that more than 400,000 workers are employed in mines set to cease operations
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