Project

On November 14, 2016, the German government adopted the “Climate Action Plan 2050”. In it, it focused on the German coal regions, among other things, and declared its intention to combine the implementation of climate protection targets with regional and industrial policy goals in these regions. This also includes the effects of the coal phase-out on employment and employment and value creation in the affected regions. The Growth, Structural Change and Employment Commission, which began its work on June 26, 2018 2018 and completed its work in January 2019, was tasked with analyzing the assess developments in the coal regions, develop a pathway for the gradual and develop instruments that help to shape structural change in the affected coal regions. Against this background, the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Innovation, Digitalization and Energy of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia (MWIDE NRW) concluded a consultancy agreement with RWI to quantify the employment and value creation losses for NRW resulting from the premature termination of coal-fired power generation. The findings of the baseline study and various individual case studies supported the NRW Ministry of Economic Affairs in its positioning with regard to the work of the “Coal Commission”. In 2021 and 2022, the effects of the phase-out scenario were updated again on behalf of MWIDE NRW based on the modified phase-out path in relation to the end of coal-fired power generation in the Rhenish mining area (the update completed in December 2022 can be found in Annex 1 of the project report).

Project start:
01. September 2018

Project end:
28. February 2019

Project management:
Dr. Jochen Dehio

Project staff:
Ronald Janßen-Timmen, Prof. Dr. Torsten Schmidt

Funding:
Ministerium für Wirtschaft, Innovation, Digitalisierung und Energie des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen