DREBKAU, GERMANY – AUGUST 20: A bucket-wheel excavator removes the first layer of soil for the expansion of the nearby Welzow open-pit lignite coal mine on August 20, 2010 near Drebkau, Germany. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)
Hello: I am making this post to show my research question, a brief overview of my goals for my research, and to include my draft survey for your review!
Research Question:
How has the German government included support for workers in the coal industry and citizens experiencing higher costs in the legal and policy frameworks during its transition away from coal?
My research aims look specifically at the policy providing national and local relief and training that has been implemented into the German frameworks for transitioning to green energy. Based on the literature I have reviewed, I would argue that the German system combines federal planning scaling back fossil fuel production with investment and job support in coal-reliant communities to ensure that its citizens are not harmed by the energy transition. This topic is applicable to how Germany carries out its energy transition, as well as the role it plays in aiding citizens with lost jobs. I aim to start researching in a broader sense first, focusing on the national government of Germany and inclusion of data on how the EU has transitioned away from coal. Then it would make sense to scale to more specific research on German jobs on the local level and policy towards the transition. I would research the Coal Commission that was formed in the country to formulate just transitioning policy, as well as provide an overview of regional aid programs and investments.
Link: https://forms.gle/yns8GSxURqTcVHEz8
Bibliography
Furnaro, A., Loot, W., Kemfert, C., Oei, P.-Y., Brauers, H., & Herpich, P. (n.d.). German just transition: A review of public policies to assist German coal communities in Transition. Resources for the Future. Retrieved February 13, 2023, from https://www.rff.org/publications/reports/german-just-transition-a-review-of-public-policies-to-assist-german-coal-communities-in-transition/
Germany’s “Coal commission”: Guiding an inclusive coal phase-out. World Resources Institute. (2021, April 1). Retrieved February 13, 2023, from https://www.wri.org/update/germanys-coal-commission-guiding-inclusive-coal-phase-out
Kalt, T. (2021). Jobs vs. climate justice? contentious narratives of labor and climate movements in the coal transition in Germany. Environmental Politics, 30(7), 1135–1154. https://doi.org/10.1080/09644016.2021.1892979
Lehr, U., Lutz, C., & Edler, D. (2012). Green Jobs? economic impacts of renewable energy in Germany. Energy Policy, 47, 358–364. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2012.04.076
Oei, P.-Y., Brauers, H., & Herpich, P. (2019). Lessons from Germany’s hard coal mining phase-out: Policies and transition from 1950 to 2018. Climate Policy, 20(8), 963–979. https://doi.org/10.1080/14693062.2019.1688636
O’Sullivan, M., & Edler, D. (2020). Gross employment effects in the renewable energy industry in Germany—an input–output analysis from 2000 to 2018. Sustainability, 12(15), 6163. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12156163