Nearly 1M coal jobs may be lost by 2050: Research

Nearly 1 million coal jobs may be lost by 2050 in the wake of the coal industry’s expected closures, a new report found. That number excludes additional climate pledges to phase out coal.

An estimated 990,200 global coal mining jobs will be shed by 2050, with nearly half a million, or 414,200, of these expected to be gone by 2035, according to a report from the Global Energy Monitor.

Equal to an average of 100 layoffs per day, the projected cuts would lay off around 37 percent of its nearly 2.7 million person workforce by 2050.

Analyzing 4,300 active and proposed coal mines and projects around the globe, the report found China and India are expected to experience the largest job cuts.

China, which employs more than 1.5 million coal miners and produces half of the world’s coal output, is expected to lose nearly a quarter of a million, or 241,900, jobs by 2050.

Meanwhile, India, the world’s second-largest coal producer, faces potential layoffs for 73,800 of its estimated 337,400 workers by 2050.

Earlier this year, the European Union’s then-climate chief expressed concern over China’s continued expansion of coal-fired plants as the world’s top producer and consumer of coal.

Former EU climate chief Frans Timmermans, however, noted China is also expanding its use of renewable resources like wind and solar energy, with a goal of making one-third of its total power supply renewable by 2025.

Some European and American officials have pushed China to adopt more ambitious goals to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide. According to The Associated Press, China accounts for 26.1 percent of global emissions — more than double the U.S. share of 12.8 percent.

Researchers behind the report argued most mines expected to close in the coming decades lack a plan on how to extend operations or transition to a post-coal economy, highlighting the need for governments to join the effort to manage the transition.

“Coal mine closures are inevitable, but economic hardship and social strife for workers is not,” Dorothy Mei, project manager for the Global Coal Mine Tracker, said in a statement. “Viable transition planning is happening, like in Spain where the country regularly reviews the ongoing impacts of decarbonization. Governments should draw inspiration from its success in planning their own just energy transition strategies.”

Ryan Diskette Tate, Global Energy Monitor’s coal program director, said the “unique concerns” of workers need to be put first to ensure the transition “isn’t just talk.”

“With technologies and markets primed for an energy transition, we have to be proactive about the unique concerns of coal miners and their communities,” Tate said.