Kolodvorska cesta 2, 1410 Zagorje ob Savi, Slovenija 
info@pravicni-prehod-zasavja.si
What is a just transition?
In 2019, the European Parliament declared a climate emergency and called upon the European Commission to adapt its program with a goal of limiting global warming and ensuring that greenhouse gas emissions are significantly reduced. In response, the Commission unveiled the European Green Deal, a roadmap for Europe becoming a climate-neutral continent by 2050.
The European Green Deal established the Just Transition Mechanism, which includes the Just Transition Fund. The European Commission utilizes the mechanism to support and encourage regions and sectors across the Union to move away from fossil fuels and use the Just Transition Fund’s development grants for the just transition to a sustainable and low-carbon society.
The Just Transition Fund is a crucial financial tool for alleviating the negative effects in areas that will be most affected by the transition to climate neutrality. The local economies will be able to use the funds to diversify and modernise their activities, while the inhabitants will be provided with training and education courses that will help them adjust to new, low-carbon models of regional development. The Fund also supports investments in digital connectivity, clean energy technologies, emission reduction, industrial and environmental rehabilitation, and technical assistance.
[Vir: www.europarl.europa.eu]
RDA Zasavje has founded the Just Transition Center, which serves as the entry point for potential applicants and for the general public interested in the activities of the Just Transition Fund.
What is a just transition?
In 2019, the European Parliament declared a climate emergency and called upon the European Commission to adapt its program with a goal of limiting global warming and ensuring that greenhouse gas emissions are significantly reduced. In response, the Commission unveiled the European Green Deal, a roadmap for Europe becoming a climate-neutral continent by 2050.
The European Green Deal established the Just Transition Mechanism, which includes the Just Transition Fund. The European Commission utilizes the mechanism to support and encourage regions and sectors across the Union to move away from fossil fuels and use the Just Transition Fund’s development grants for the just transition to a sustainable and low-carbon society.
The Just Transition Fund is a crucial financial tool for alleviating the negative effects in areas that will be most affected by the transition to climate neutrality. The local economies will be able to use the funds to diversify and modernise their activities, while the inhabitants will be provided with training and education courses that will help them adjust to new, low-carbon models of regional development. The Fund also supports investments in digital connectivity, clean energy technologies, emission reduction, industrial and environmental rehabilitation, and technical assistance.
[Vir: www.europarl.europa.eu]
RDA Zasavje has founded the Just Transition Center, which serves as the entry point for potential applicants and for the general public interested in the activities of the Just Transition Fund.
Situation in the Zasavje Region
The process of restructuring the Zasavje Region began as early as in 1999. A referendum was held in Slovenia at the time about the proposed construction of a new unit on the Trbovlje Power Plant (TET), which was rejected by the voters. Since the operations of the nearby Trbovlje-Hrastnik Coal Mine (RTH) were closely linked to TET, the decision was made to shut down the mine. The Act Regulating Gradual Closure of the Trbovlje-Hrastnik Mine and Development Restructuring of the Region was passed in 2000. This initiated the phasing out of coal mining in the Zasavje Region.
The principals of a just transition from coal mining were not taken into account during the restructuring process and the phasing out of coal mining activities, especially the principle of replacing the eliminated jobs and encouraging the development of new economic activities.
A very telling figure is the high proportion of long-term unemployed, especially in the Municipality of Trbovlje, where they account for 6.5% of all unemployed people (2019).
Twenty years later, the region is facing numerous structural problems emblematic of coal mining regions transitioning away from coal. The local inhabitants are facing long-term unemployment, higher-skilled workers are choosing to leave the region, the population is ageing, and the entire region is experiencing a depopulation process. Compared to other Slovenian regions, the Zasavje Region has the lowest GDP and an insufficient number of employment opportunities, especially those with a higher added value.
The coal mining activities in the region being shut down meant that the economic activities that had been directly or indirectly connected to the coal mine also decreased significantly.
During the first restructuring period, the region lost over 5,000 jobs, which constituted 27% of all jobs in the region in the period between 2000 and 2011. Throughout the period of the gradual phase-out of coal mining activities in the Zasavje Region, the lost jobs were never replaced, which resulted in 11% of the inhabitants moving away from Zasavje.
The gap analysis indicated that the region still does not offer enough new jobs to employ those unemployed people who had lost their jobs after the coal mining industry was shut down. The region continues to have a large share of unemployed people whose education structure does not meet the current needs of the regional economy. Additionally, the lack of employment opportunities with a higher added value has resulted in the competent workforce migrating to work to Ljubljana and other urban centres outside the region on a daily basis.
The current just transition process will require the needs of the economy and the labour market to be aligned, so that new employment opportunities with a higher added value can be created to enable the local inhabitants to live and work in the region.
Despite phasing out coal, CO2 emissions in the region are still significant due to the main economic activities in operation. The high CO2 burden is partly due to the increased volume of daily commuter traffic with the majority of employees commuting to work to other cities in Slovenia. This is further exasperated by the poor ventilation of the basins and some of the leading companies operating in the region having a CO2-intensive production (Steklarna Hrastnik – Special d.o.o., Steklarna Hrastnik – Vitrum d.o.o., IGM Zagorje, Komunala Trbovlje, TKI Hrastnik).
Twenty years later, the region is facing numerous structural problems emblematic of coal mining regions transitioning away from coal. The local inhabitants are facing long-term unemployment, higher-skilled workers are choosing to leave the region, the population is ageing, and the entire region is experiencing a depopulation process. Compared to other Slovenian regions, the Zasavje Region has the lowest GDP and an insufficient number of employment opportunities, especially those with a higher added value.
The coal mining activities in the region being shut down meant that the economic activities that had been directly or indirectly connected to the coal mine also decreased significantly.
During the first restructuring period, the region lost over 5,000 jobs, which constituted 27% of all jobs in the region in the period between 2000 and 2011. Throughout the period of the gradual phase-out of coal mining activities in the Zasavje Region, the lost jobs were never replaced, which resulted in 11% of the inhabitants moving away from Zasavje.
The gap analysis indicated that the region still does not offer enough new jobs to employ those unemployed people who had lost their jobs after the coal mining industry was shut down. The region continues to have a large share of unemployed people whose education structure does not meet the current needs of the regional economy. Additionally, the lack of employment opportunities with a higher added value has resulted in the competent workforce migrating to work to Ljubljana and other urban centres outside the region on a daily basis.
The current just transition process will require the needs of the economy and the labour market to be aligned, so that new employment opportunities with a higher added value can be created to enable the local inhabitants to live and work in the region.
Despite phasing out coal, CO2 emissions in the region are still significant due to the main economic activities in operation. The high CO2 burden is partly due to the increased volume of daily commuter traffic with the majority of employees commuting to work to other cities in Slovenia. This is further exasperated by the poor ventilation of the basins and some of the leading companies operating in the region having a CO2-intensive production (Steklarna Hrastnik – Special d.o.o., Steklarna Hrastnik – Vitrum d.o.o., IGM Zagorje, Komunala Trbovlje, TKI Hrastnik).
The just transition of Zasavje
The first phase of the region’s restructuring unfolded during the closing of the Trbovlje-Hrastnik Coal Mine in the period 1999–2015; since then, the region has continued to face social and economic issues. This drove the Regional Development Agency in their efforts in the period 2019–2022 to have the Zasavje Region included in the Just Transition Mechanism.
The Zasavje Region has been included in the Just Transition Mechanism since 2019, enabling it to secure funds from the Just Transition Fund. The Fund has allocated €74.6 million in grants for the just transition of Zasavje. The strategic document for implementing the just transition in Zasavje is the Territorial Just Transition Plan for the Zasavje Coal Region. It was compiled in collaboration with the key regional stakeholders and represents the basis for all just-transition-related activities and investments.
74,6 million €
Za prestrukturiranje regije
In 2023, the Zasavje Regional Development Agency founded the Zasavje Just Transition Center, for which it acquired all the additional funds for technical assistance. The Center is an information centre, an entry point for all stakeholders in the region’s restructuring, and the main support structure for implementing just transition activities in the region.
The just transition of Zasavje
The first phase of the region’s restructuring unfolded during the closing of the Trbovlje-Hrastnik Coal Mine in the period 1999–2015; since then, the region has continued to face social and economic issues. This drove the Regional Development Agency in their efforts in the period 2019–2022 to have the Zasavje Region included in the Just Transition Mechanism.
The Zasavje Region has been included in the Just Transition Mechanism since 2019, enabling it to secure funds from the Just Transition Fund. The Fund has allocated €74.6 million in grants for the just transition of Zasavje. The strategic document for implementing the just transition in Zasavje is the Territorial Just Transition Plan for the Zasavje Coal Region. It was compiled in collaboration with the key regional stakeholders and represents the basis for all just-transition-related activities and investments.
In 2023, the Zasavje Regional Development Agency founded the Zasavje Just Transition Center, for which it acquired all the additional funds for technical assistance. The Center is an information centre, an entry point for all stakeholders in the region’s restructuring, and the main support structure for implementing just transition activities in the region.
