On 15 September 2023 (6:30 - 7:30 pm New York (EDT) (GMT-4) 11:30 - 12:30 Geneva (CEST) (GMT+1)), UNECE hosted a webinar titled Just Transition Session at the 32nd Session of the Committee of Sustainable Energy.
The session had a form of a panel that was preceeded by an opening context setting presentation, which constituted a basis for a general discussion and States' interventions. The session was moderated by the Chair of the Group of Experts on Coal Mine Methane and Just Transition, and it addressed the following issues:
- What products can be produced from coal?
- How do those products fit the needs of the green economy?
- What are the social and cultural problems related to just transition?
- What social protection mechanisms need to be developed to ensure that transition is just?
- What are the social and cultural benefits of preserving coal mining?
- How would coal-centered clusters be designed and what would be needed to build them?
- What are the expected costs, who would cover them, and how do they compare to the costs of the transition based on a complete coal phase-out?
- What new financial solutions does this approach offer?
- Where would energy for powering such clusters come from?
- Could coal mine methane be used for hydrogen production?
- What are the opportunities for repurposing the post-mining land to host clean energy production or storage?
- The environmental aspect of the proposed transition.
- Compare the full value chain environmental impact of obtaining the products in question from locally available coal with the environmental impact of alternatives (what are they?)
- What can UNECE do to help its member States ensure a just transition?