Global Coal Industry Set to Layoff Over 4 lakh Miners by 2035

The coal industry is on the brink of significant job losses, with over 4 lakh mining positions expected to disappear by 2035. This equates to almost 100 workers losing their jobs daily, with China and India being the most affected.

The main driver of this impending jobs crisis is the growing shift towards cost-effective wind and solar power generation. Furthermore, there's a glaring absence of comprehensive plans to manage the transition to a post-coal economy. Approximately 9,90,200 coal-mining jobs may be at risk due to the expected closure of coal facilities, potentially affecting over a third (37 percent) of the current coal workforce.

China and India are anticipated to bear the brunt of these job losses. China's Shanxi province is predicted to suffer the highest number of job losses globally, with 2,41,900 jobs at risk by 2050. In India, Coal India, a state-owned coal producer, could see the most substantial layoffs, with an estimated 73,800 job cuts by mid-century. These statistics paint a grim picture of the looming employment crisis within the coal industry.

It's crucial to recognize the vital role played by coal-mining jobs in remote coal regions. They act as economic anchors, supporting ancillary workforces and local consumer and information economies. The majority of these workers are in Asia, with around 22 lakh jobs in the region. As a result, China and India are expected to be most affected by coal-mine closures.

India, the world's second-largest coal producer, has a workforce about half the size of Shanxi's. Officially, the country employs approximately 3,37,400 miners at operational mines, though some studies suggest that the local mining sector employs four "informal" workers for every direct employee, illustrating the sector's employment complexity.

According to the IEA, the electricity sector emitted 12.3 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide in 2020, surpassing all other sectors and accounting for 36 percent of all energy-related emissions. Coal remains the largest single source of electricity worldwide and is responsible for nearly three-quarters of electricity sector CO2 emissions, despite representing just over one-third of electricity supply.

To align with the goals set by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, global coal use needs to decrease by 75 percent by 2030 compared to 2019 levels. The UN climate talks in Glasgow in 2021 saw countries agree to phase down coal power and eliminate "inefficient" fossil fuel subsidies, marking a significant shift in addressing key drivers of global warming—coal, oil, and gas.