The EU’S green renaissance

At the end of June, the European Commission took a bold step towards its ambitious climate neutrality objectives by launching the Just Transition Mechanism. The platform will put €150 billion of fresh money at the disposal of local authorities around the EU to help regions get up to speed on climate and environmental policy.

The plan attempts to bridge the gaps between communities that have clear and advanced pro-climate strategies in place and those that are lagging behind. One crucial area is coal use across the Union. Two-fifths of the regions around the EU, from Spain to Poland, still have active coal-fired infrastructure – an industry that provides jobs to around 240,000 people, more than one in every 200 European citizens.

But emissions, to which coal is a major contributor, does not only affect workers in the industry or regions that host coal plants. Every year, no less than 400,000 people in the EU suffer premature deaths with complications linked to air pollution.

The Just Transition Mechanism will seek to level the scales between all regions in Europe by investing in a new generation of capabilities, jobs, and technology that facilitate a concerted effort towards the EU green reconstruction plan. Local authorities will be able to access funds and favourable loans to support economic diversification, reskilling, stimulate innovation, and steadily shift towards non-polluting activities.

The platform, though, has not come without criticism. Some local governments, such as that in the Belgian region of Flanders, have raised questions about the distribution of funds. Flemish