LIFE: ensuring a fair clean energy transition for all

2024 was a year of milestones for Europe’s clean energy transition. Solar power overtook coal for the first time, use of gas declined for the fifth year in a row and the share of renewables rose to 47%. Meanwhile, fossil fuels sunk to a historic low of 29%. As well as their damaging climate impacts, coal, gas and oil are also hugely expensive — EU fossil fuel subsidies rose to €123 billion in 2022. 

But not everyone is happy with the switch. Large swathes of the EU remain dependent on coal not only for energy but for jobs. More than 200 000 EU citizens still work in coal mines and power plants, many of them in the poorest regions. Greece, Poland, Italy and Bulgaria are among those Member States where many still rely on the coal industry for their livelihoods and for social cohesion. 

That’s where LIFE SITRANS comes in, helping communities and regions to make the clean energy transition a positive social and economic experience. The €1 million project, which wraps up in April, has spent 3 years working with communities which could be hit hard by the fossil-fuel phase out — Western Macedonia in Greece, which is highly dependent on lignite; the Polish Silesia region with its centuries-old coal industry; Sardinia, an Italian region where the economy is still based on coal and fuel oil power; and the coal-mining heartland of Stara Zagora in Bulgaria. 

‘We have to understand that for these, and other similar communities, coal has provided them with jobs, money and social security for generations,’ says Project Coordinator Ioannis Bakouros from the Technology Research Lab at the University of Western Macedonia. ‘We have to decarbonise the energy sector in ways which have a positive social-economic impact and which are fair and just for all.’ 

Building on its work in the 4 Member States, LIFE SITRANS recently launched JETO (Just Energy Transition Observatory), a ground-breaking digital platform which ‘combines advanced data visualisation, analysis and collaborative tools…to address the complex challenges of decarbonisation, socio-economic resilience, and effective governance within Europe’s energy landscape.’  

‘JETO is a a free platform where anyone can explore and download our comprehensive geospatial and socio-economic data,’ explains Ioannis. ‘It emphasises open science and encourages users to explore and develop new applications. Anyone can freely download the raw data to conduct independent analyses within their communities.’ 

LIFE SITRANS supports the EU Clean Energy Transition and long-term climate strategy as part of the European Green Deal and the Clean Industrial Deal.