The European Commission’s proposal for a Just Transition Fund has the potential to add to this momentum, by making the EU’s remaining coal countries an offer too attractive to refuse. The fund is one of three pillars of a new Just Transition Mechanism, a central part of the European Green Deal. Next to it, a dedicated scheme under the InvestEU fund and a public-sector loan facility with the European Investment Bank will support regions and sectors most affected by the union’s transition to climate neutrality. [...]
To receive funding, countries will need to draw up territorial transition plans. Such plans are an essential element of a just-transition process, as they give prospective security to workers, industries, investors and communities. Importantly, these strategies need to be driven by all stakeholders from affected regions: people from a given region best know its strengths and weaknesses and what they want it to look like in the future. [...]
Under the proposed allocation criteria for the Just Transition Fund, Poland and Germany will stand to benefit the most. Allocation of funding is based on greenhouse-gas emissions, employment or production levels in a certain industry, economic development and the number of inhabitants—climate ambition is entirely missing from this equation. [...]
The European Parliament has already made clear that Just Transition funding must be conditional on coal phase-out plans. Among member states, the EU countries which are members of the Powering Past Coal Alliance control a comfortable majority and share a common interest in insisting on strict climate conditionality.
No comments:
Post a Comment