{"id":870,"date":"2021-10-26T10:45:37","date_gmt":"2021-10-26T08:45:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.greens-efa.eu\/opinions\/?p=870"},"modified":"2021-10-29T09:40:25","modified_gmt":"2021-10-29T07:40:25","slug":"just-transition-in-the-regions-how-renewable-energy-can-create-jobs-and-benefit-local-communities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greens-efa.eu\/opinions\/just-transition-in-the-regions-how-renewable-energy-can-create-jobs-and-benefit-local-communities\/","title":{"rendered":"Just transition in the regions – how renewable energy can create jobs and benefit local communities"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Within the next few years, the European Union will see a substantial acceleration in renewable energy projects being deployed. A large-scale implementation of wind turbines, solar panels and other technologies is not only crucial to meet the climate targets of the Paris Agreement and the European Climate Law, but can also spark a variety of positive impacts on people\u2019s lives. Research shows that a growing renewable energy sector \u2014 empowered by policy programmes such as the European Green Deal \u2014 will create jobs, increase GDP and raise household income on a global scale. <\/p>\n<\/div>

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However, while climate change is definitely a topic of global concern, when we talk about how renewables and the energy transition will benefit people<\/a>, we need to think on a much more local level. Renewables create employment and economic activity in a more geographically dispersed way than conventional energy industries. Think of a single gigantic power plant versus a multitude of wind turbines!\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>

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The local impact of renewable energy projects<\/strong><\/h3>\n<\/div>
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We should not underestimate the profound social, economic and political implications of a  deconcentrated energy sector. A recent study,<\/strong><\/a> <\/strong>commissioned by the Greens\/EFA Group, shows that the socio-economic impact of renewable energy projects can indeed look very different whether you live in the Severoz\u00e1pad region of Czech Republic or Spain’s Castile and Leon.<\/p>\n<\/div>

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In the former, 10,000 jobs in the coal industry today will be compensated by only an estimated 2,300 future jobs in the renewable sector. One of the main reasons being low national interest in stimulating green growth. However, Castile and Leon is the region with the highest potential for job creation among the coal transition regions in the EU. Although it has lost jobs through the closure of coal mines as well as nuclear and coal power plants in recent years, researchers estimate a net improvement of socio-economic conditions as a result of the energy transition. More than 21,000 jobs could be created, most of them in the wind energy sector.<\/p>\n<\/div>

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The study compares five different EU regions<\/a>, and finds that, despite many differences, the socio-economic impacts of renewable energies are generally positive. However, the study is very clear that the full socio-economic potential can only be realised if flanked by adequate policy measures. Mere technology is not enough, and the study states: <\/p>\n<\/div>

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\u201cBased on the regulatory signal given by the European Climate Law and the rapidly falling costs of renewable energy sources, the EU energy transition is now inevitable and irreversible, but the extent to which it achieves socio-economic benefits for local communities is not.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>

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Download the studies here:<\/h4>\n<\/div>\n\n
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