Poland: historic agreement on the closure of coal mines

Miners are pictured during their underground demonstration at the Myslowice-Wesola mine in Myslowiece, Poland on September 23, 2020. Courtesy of KKWZZ Sierpien 80 / Handout via REUTERS.

2 min

In Poland, the last coal mine will close in 2049. An agreement to this effect was signed on Friday September 25 by the Polish government and the miners' unions.

This commitment is historic for this country whose electricity production still relies 80% on coal.

Publicity

Read more

With our correspondent in Versovie

, 

With colossal losses in 2019, the coronavirus pandemic this year, not to mention the carbon neutrality towards which the EU is striving, the Polish coal sector knew that the sentence would eventually fall.  

For a few days, nearly 400 muzzles protested underground.

The unions wanted to postpone the closure of mines to 2060 but ended up accepting 2049. It must be said that the majority of mines in operation in Poland will not even have enough deposits to hold out until then. 

In exchange, the unions have obtained that by then no employee of the coal mines will lose their job and that social protection will be put in place. 

This agreement is a historic turning point for the region of Silesia, the Polish coalfield for centuries, where many families work in the mines from father to son.  

Poland now has three decades to make a successful energy transition.

In the meantime, it will continue to keep this loss-making sector alive.

Newsletter

Receive all the international news directly in your mailbox

I subscribe

Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application

google-play-badge_FR