The huge task of phasing out coal requires a detailed roadmap to sequence coal plant retirement with a range of policy instruments and support for key stakeholders which will expand current notions of a just transition, leading energy experts have said.
The huge task of phasing out coal requires a detailed roadmap to sequence coal plant retirement with a range of policy instruments and support for key stakeholders which will expand current notions of a just transition, leading energy experts have said.
Governments should be prepared to pay billions of pounds to operators of coal-fired power plants in agreements to shut down their plants early, a new paper published in Nature Climate Change today recommends.
The paper recommends extensive compensation should also be considered for regional economies hardest hit by the loss of coal producers and energy-intensive industries that will have to absorb higher energy prices in order to ensure a just transition to greener energy production.
To prevent regions such as the coal belt in the United States or dependent communities in Germany and Poland being abandoned after coal, the study recommends governments should foot the bill for extensive improvements to localised transport and communication infrastructure, higher education provision, new business opportunities and the relocation of government services.
Read more at University of Sussex
Photo Credit: Benita5 via Pixabay
