OREANDA-NEWS Coal industry workers around the world may face the threat of mass layoffs. This is reported by Bloomberg with reference to a report by analysts at Global Energy Monitor (GEM).

By 2035, mine managers will be forced to cut 100 jobs daily until 2035 against the backdrop of a global energy transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources. The massive closure of coal mines will lead to the elimination of about 15 percent of jobs, and 400 thousand employees will lose their main source of income. At the same time, by 2050, this figure is likely to grow to almost one million amid a massive transition to cheaper wind and solar generation, experts warned.

According to analysts' expectations, the world's leading coal consumers — India and China - will suffer the greatest damage from mass layoffs of miners. Against this background, experts advised the authorities of these Asian countries to give former miners priority in finding a new job in advance. One of the possible options for smoothing out the negative consequences of mass layoffs, they called the creation of jobs necessary for the restoration of land after the cessation of operation of coal mines.

In the first half of September, the head of the International Energy Agency (IEA) Fatih Birol announced the "beginning of the end" of the era of fossil fuels. According to him, the peak demand for oil, natural gas and coal will be reached in the current decade. Against this background, the world community needs to prepare in advance for the "historic turning point" in the global energy sector and do everything possible to accelerate the transition to renewable energy sources.