Supporting equitable transition to sustainable energy
16 articles found
Poland’s coal region of Silesia illustrates the social and economic complexity of moving away from fossil fuels in areas where coal has shaped employment, local identity, and regional development for generations. While coal has contributed significantly to economic growth, it has also created deep environmental costs, including high pollution levels, mining waste, and long-term land degradation.
Poland’s continued reliance on coal reflects a complex combination of historical legacy, political pressure, regional identity, and delayed energy policy reform. Although coal remains central to the country’s electricity system, its economic viability has weakened significantly due to high production costs, declining competitiveness, public subsidies, and rising carbon costs. The coal sector also remains politically sensitive, particularly in mining regions such as Silesia, where coal is closely
In the 1950s, the Ruhr region in western Germany had a bustling economy driven by coal mining and heavy industries.
Europe’s industrial decline is not inevitable, but reflects decades of deindustrialisation, weakened strategic autonomy, and growing dependence on external actors for energy, manufacturing, critical technologies, and defence. At the same time, the transition to net-zero emissions offers a major opportunity to rebuild Europe’s industrial base through clean technologies, renewable energy, electrification, green hydrogen, and low-carbon value chains.