Emmanuel OchayiThe Global Energy Monitor (GEM) has warned that the global coal industry may face the loss of 1 million jobs by the year 2050. The prediction comes as a result of GEM’s latest research, casting a shadow over the future of the coal sector. China and India are expected to bear the brunt of these losses.
Dorothy Mei, project manager for GEM’s Global Coal Mine Tracker, emphasized the urgency of government action, stating, “Coal mine closures are inevitable, but economic hardship and social strife for workers are not.”
GEM’s research, which analyzed 4,300 active and proposed coal mine projects worldwide, uncovered that over 400,000 workers are employed in mines that will cease operations before 2035.
If measures to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius are implemented, only 250,000 miners, less than 10% of the current workforce, would be needed globally.
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China’s coal industry, the largest in the world, currently employs over 1.5 million people, with more than 240,000 job losses anticipated in Shanxi province alone by 2050. Ryan Driskell Tate,
GEM’s program director for coal, stressed the need for proactive planning to support workers and coal communities, asserting, “The coal industry, on the whole, has a notoriously bad reputation for its treatment of workers.”
As the world transitions to cleaner energy sources, ensuring the welfare of coal workers becomes paramount, requiring coordinated efforts from industry and governments.
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