At the opening of the 5th annual dialogue of the Initiative for Coal Regions in Transition on Thursday 11 July in Velenje, Slovenia, the Executive Vice-President of the European Commission, Maroš Šefčovič, stressed the importance of ensuring a just transition for these regions facing economic upheaval.
In his view, we need to find the best possible solutions to help coal-mining regions that are “very proud of their mining past” to embark on their energy transition.
He also stressed the need to work with local authorities to deal with the consequences of climate change, taking as an example the recent floods that hit Slovenia (in 2023) and caused more than €9 billion in damage (almost 16% of the country’s GDP).
“It was a very stark reminder to all of us in Europe and in the world, of what kind of crisis we are living through […] in terms of human loss, and also what are the economic dangers”, he said.
At the start of his term of office, the Vice-President insisted that the climate transition in the coal-mining regions should be “fair and equitable, with a very strong social component”, and that there should be no one and “no place” left behind.
He also pointed out that the Just Transition Fund had been allocated around €19 billion for regions in transition, and called on them to work closely with the European Commission and present ambitious projects that would make “good use of this money”. (Original version in French by Pauline Denys)