On 12 May a CEE regional event on restructuring of coal regions and roles of local communities and trade unions within this process took place. At the event we discussed the importance of timely coal exit in the context of EU’s enhanced climate and energy policies. As Slovenia and other CEE countries are lagging behind we shed light on the key climate and economic reasons for abandoning coal before 2030.

After presentations form Slovenian state secretary at the Ministry of Infrastructure and representative of Europe Beyond coal, who presented a need for ambitious and timely Slovenian cola exit strategy and inevitability of phasing out coal in order to achieve the EU’s enhanced climate target for 2030, representatives from trade Unions and local authorities presented good practices of active involvement and finding solutions to a fair transition.

More than 70 participants from Slovenia and CEE countries attended the event, including representatives from trade unions, Slovenian  Ministry of the Infrastructure, regional development agencies, media, municipalities and environmental NGOs. Through the discussion we concluded that a transparent and inclusive process of preparation and implementation of coal exit strategy is needed, where proactive role of all the actors is needed. It is crucial that we do not postpone the coal exit, since this would have negative effects not only for achieving climate goals, but also for the workers and local communities in the region.