Just transition or just talk?

The report finds that 11 of 18 EU coal-using countries lack Paris-compatible phase-out plans, with seven not planning to exit coal by 2030 and four replacing coal with increased fossil gas. It argues that the Just Transition Fund's current allocation methodology risks funding 'climate laggards,' as nearly two-thirds of the fund would go to countries without 2030 phase-out plans. The authors recommend making fund access conditional on ambitious coal phase-out dates and strictly excluding all fossil fuels, including gas, from the fund's scope.

• Of the 18 EU Member States still using coal for electricity, 11 do not have a Paris-compatible plan to phase out coal. Seven countries—Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Germany, Poland, Romania, and Slovenia—do not plan to phase out coal by 2030, with 52GW of coal expected to remain operational after 2030.
• Four EU countries—Greece, Hungary, Ireland, and Italy—plan to phase out coal by 2030 but intend to significantly increase their use of fossil gas, which the report describes as a 'coal-to-gas transition' incompatible with EU climate commitments.
• Seven EU countries are on track to phase out coal by 2030 without a significant increase in fossil gas: Denmark, Finland, France, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, and Spain.
• The current allocation methodology for the Just Transition Fund risks rewarding 'climate laggards' because nearly two-thirds of the fund would be allocated to the seven countries that do not plan to phase out coal by 2030. Additionally, over 10% of the fund would go to the four countries planning a significant coal-to-gas transition.
• The proposed budget for the Just Transition Fund, initially increased to €40 billion in May 2020, faces a potential reduction to €17.5 billion following a European Council proposal on the coronavirus Recovery Instrument.
• In Italy, the coal phase-out is expected to be primarily achieved by increasing gas generation, with approximately 6GW of new CCGT capacity proposed, including 4.2GW of direct coal-to-gas power station conversions by Enel.
• Poland's plans indicate that electricity generation from gas is expected to rise to nearly four times the 2016-2018 baseline by 2040, with 42% of expected coal reductions being offset by increased gas burn.

APA

Gündüzyeli, E., & Moore, C. (2020). Just transition or just talk? Ember. https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2020/09/Just-Transition-Just-Talk-2020.pdf

Chicago

Gündüzyeli, Elif, and Charles Moore. Just transition or just talk? Ember, 2020. https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2020/09/Just-Transition-Just-Talk-2020.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Gündüzyeli |first1=Elif |last2=Moore |first2=Charles |title=Just transition or just talk? |publisher=Ember |date=September 2020 |url=https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2020/09/Just-Transition-Just-Talk-2020.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{gndzyeli2020just, author = {Gündüzyeli, Elif and Moore, Charles}, title = {{Just transition or just talk?}}, institution = {Ember}, year = {2020}, month = sep, url = {https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2020/09/Just-Transition-Just-Talk-2020.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }