Managing Coal Mine Closure : Achieving a Just Transition for All

Over the last half century, large-scale changes to coal industries across Europe, and more recently in the United States and China, have resulted in as many as 4 million coal workers losing their jobs. The main drivers of these changes are mine mec...

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Main Author: World Bank Group
Format: Report
Language:English
Published: World Bank, Washington, DC 2018
Subjects:
Online Access:http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/484541544643269894/Managing-Coal-Mine-Closure-Achieving-a-Just-Transition-for-All
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/31020
id okr-10986-31020
recordtype oai_dc
spelling okr-10986-310202021-05-25T09:20:15Z Managing Coal Mine Closure : Achieving a Just Transition for All World Bank Group COAL JOB LOSS MINE CLOSURE TEMPORARY INCOME SUPPORT ACTIVE LABOR MARKET PROGRAM TRADE ADJUSTMENT COSTS CLIMATE POLICY ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY ENERGY EFFICIENCY MINE MECHANIZATION CLEAN ENERGY SHALE GAS Over the last half century, large-scale changes to coal industries across Europe, and more recently in the United States and China, have resulted in as many as 4 million coal workers losing their jobs. The main drivers of these changes are mine mechanization, government policies and competition from other fuels in downstream energy demand markets. At present, economies in Asia, Eastern Europe, and Africa face these same drivers of change, with large job losses already taking place in China, and with other large coal producing countries in Asia likely to follow. Lessons drawn from the experiences of the Russian Federation (Russia), Ukraine, Poland, and Romania from 1994 to 2012, complemented by data on impacts of coal industry adjustment in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, the United States, and China, show that job losses not only take place as the industry contracts but even if production is increasing. The mitigation of social conflict and economic distress are of grave concern as globally the coal industry enters a new era of downsizing. The objective of this report is to share with governments lessons learned regardingcoal mine closure. Indeed, the full set of coal mine closure issues is diverse with few positive case studies to date to draw on. The complexity of technical issues and vested interests along with the myriad of potential risks which may unfold will require combining time-tested and new approaches, and applying a broad array of skills. In this issues paper, we have sought to identifylessons from the past that can guide policy makers for more successful future mine closures. Nine lessons learned are presented for government consideration, drawn from three sets of literature. First, analysis from coal industry adjustment and downsizing experiences in Russia, Ukraine, Poland, and Romania from 1994 to 2012 where interventions ranged from preparatory diagnosticand technical studies to planning and financing of eventual closure programs. Second, observations and insights on impacts from coal industry adjustment in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, the United States, and China. Third, evidence-based interventions that have helped to mitigate potential negative social and labor impacts from mass job losses in other industries. 2018-12-18T22:42:13Z 2018-12-18T22:42:13Z 2018-11 Report http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/484541544643269894/Managing-Coal-Mine-Closure-Achieving-a-Just-Transition-for-All http://hdl.handle.net/10986/31020 English CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo World Bank World Bank, Washington, DC Economic & Sector Work :: Energy Study Economic & Sector Work Russian Federation United Kingdom United States
repository_type Digital Repository
institution_category Foreign Institution
institution Digital Repositories
building World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection World Bank
language English
topic COAL
JOB LOSS
MINE CLOSURE
TEMPORARY INCOME SUPPORT
ACTIVE LABOR MARKET PROGRAM
TRADE ADJUSTMENT COSTS
CLIMATE POLICY
ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY
ENERGY EFFICIENCY
MINE MECHANIZATION
CLEAN ENERGY
SHALE GAS
spellingShingle COAL
JOB LOSS
MINE CLOSURE
TEMPORARY INCOME SUPPORT
ACTIVE LABOR MARKET PROGRAM
TRADE ADJUSTMENT COSTS
CLIMATE POLICY
ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY
ENERGY EFFICIENCY
MINE MECHANIZATION
CLEAN ENERGY
SHALE GAS
World Bank Group
Managing Coal Mine Closure : Achieving a Just Transition for All
geographic_facet Russian Federation
United Kingdom
United States
description Over the last half century, large-scale changes to coal industries across Europe, and more recently in the United States and China, have resulted in as many as 4 million coal workers losing their jobs. The main drivers of these changes are mine mechanization, government policies and competition from other fuels in downstream energy demand markets. At present, economies in Asia, Eastern Europe, and Africa face these same drivers of change, with large job losses already taking place in China, and with other large coal producing countries in Asia likely to follow. Lessons drawn from the experiences of the Russian Federation (Russia), Ukraine, Poland, and Romania from 1994 to 2012, complemented by data on impacts of coal industry adjustment in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, the United States, and China, show that job losses not only take place as the industry contracts but even if production is increasing. The mitigation of social conflict and economic distress are of grave concern as globally the coal industry enters a new era of downsizing. The objective of this report is to share with governments lessons learned regardingcoal mine closure. Indeed, the full set of coal mine closure issues is diverse with few positive case studies to date to draw on. The complexity of technical issues and vested interests along with the myriad of potential risks which may unfold will require combining time-tested and new approaches, and applying a broad array of skills. In this issues paper, we have sought to identifylessons from the past that can guide policy makers for more successful future mine closures. Nine lessons learned are presented for government consideration, drawn from three sets of literature. First, analysis from coal industry adjustment and downsizing experiences in Russia, Ukraine, Poland, and Romania from 1994 to 2012 where interventions ranged from preparatory diagnosticand technical studies to planning and financing of eventual closure programs. Second, observations and insights on impacts from coal industry adjustment in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, the United States, and China. Third, evidence-based interventions that have helped to mitigate potential negative social and labor impacts from mass job losses in other industries.
format Report
author World Bank Group
author_facet World Bank Group
author_sort World Bank Group
title Managing Coal Mine Closure : Achieving a Just Transition for All
title_short Managing Coal Mine Closure : Achieving a Just Transition for All
title_full Managing Coal Mine Closure : Achieving a Just Transition for All
title_fullStr Managing Coal Mine Closure : Achieving a Just Transition for All
title_full_unstemmed Managing Coal Mine Closure : Achieving a Just Transition for All
title_sort managing coal mine closure : achieving a just transition for all
publisher World Bank, Washington, DC
publishDate 2018
url http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/484541544643269894/Managing-Coal-Mine-Closure-Achieving-a-Just-Transition-for-All
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/31020
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