Balancing coal and climate – what is a „just” energy transition?

The European Commission, in its new seven-year budget proposal, wants to boost climate spending in an effort to fight climate change and accelerate the EU energy transition. However, the EU has to deal with a tough reality. Today 41 regions in 12 EU countries are actively mining coal but many face significant economic and social challenges as the bloc shifts toward cleaner forms of energy.

While the Commission set up the “coal regions in transition” platform to help these regions modernize their economies and prepare for the structural and technological shift away from the fuel, there is still a long way to go. How can the EU ensure that no coal regions will be left behind while fighting climate change? Will the EU proposal to cut cohesion funding undermine the efforts of regions to shift away from coal towards a clean energy transition?

POLITICO is convening top policy-makers, business energy experts and civil society representatives for a frank discussion about what does “just” energy transition mean for the different European countries?

4:30 PM CET – Registration and Welcome Coffee
5:00 PM CET – Welcome Remarks by Anca Gurzu, POLITICO’s moderator
5:05 PM CET – Welcome Remarks by our partner, PKEE
Filip Grzegorczyk, President of the Management Board, Tauron and Vice-President of PKEE
5:10 AM CET – One-to-one Interview followed by a Q&A
Corina Cretu, European Commissioner for Regional Policy – @CorinaCretuEU
Conducted by Lili Bayer, POLITICO’s Reporter
5:30 PM CET – Panel discussion followed by Q&A
Marion Labatut, Director Policy Issues, Eurelectric @MarionLabatut
Cristina Pruna, Member of Parliament, Romania @PrunaMp
Megan Richards, Director of Energy Policy, Director- General for Energy, European Commission
Wendel Trio, Director, Climate Action Network Europe
Moderated by Anca Gurzu, POLITICO’s Energy Reporter @AncaGurzu
6:15 PM CET – Closing Remarks followed by a networking cocktail

Politico