Beyond coal: From black to green economy?

While the EU is increasing its ambitions under the "Fit for 55" package, Europe's coal regions in transition are facing unprecedented structural change, exacerbated by the major energy crisis resulting from Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the damage caused by the COVID -19 pandemic.

 Defining the best way forward for a gradually carbon-free future – one that secures security of supply, maintains and strengthens innovation and competitiveness of EU industry, and complies with EU energy and climate objectives, requires a thorough discussion on the timeline and technical options with all relevant stakeholders.

As one of the three Czech coal regions and former steel heart of the Czech Republic, the Moravian-Silesian region has worked hard to transform itself to a low-carbon future-proof region. With its significant transition from coal mining to data mining and from heavy industry to creative industries, it clearly demonstrates the potential regions have to initiate structural change, focusing on knowledge and innovation, industry and entrepreneurship.

The conference "Beyond coal: from black to green economy? The Moravian-Silesian Region as a testing ground", organised by the EESC Employers' Group on 10 October 2022, under the Czech Presidency of the Council of the EU, aims at identifying concrete solutions for a gradually coal-free future for Europe, distilling lessons and good practices with the help of various high-level speakers, representing business, national and regional authorities and EU institutions. 

The first panel entitled "Transition pathways for coal and other carbon-intensive regions" will allow an exchange on a general scale about the challenges and opportunities of the ongoing journey towards a just transition to a climate-neutral Europe. On the other hand, the second panel entitled "Transition to carbon neutrality in the Moravian-Silesian Region" will tackle the specificities of the Moravian-Silesian Region providing the participants with updates and lessons learnt on the region's ongoing experience towards coal phase-out.

Please find here the privacy statement of the event.