Faisal Maliki Baskoro, Jakarta – Indonesian coal miners are at risk of losing their jobs as the nation shifts towards clean energy, which involves the early closure of coal mines. A recent Global Energy Monitor report estimates that around 30,000 workers in the coal sector could face potential layoffs from 2020 to 2040.
In an effort to accelerate its decarbonization program, Indonesia launched the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) on November 15, 2022, during the G-20 Leaders' Summit in Bali. The JETP is an agreement designed to mobilize an initial $20 billion in public and private financing to decarbonize Indonesia's energy sector. Part of the JETP funding will be allocated to support the early closure of coal-fired power plants by 2030.
Global Energy Monitor estimates that the clean energy transition will result in layoffs of around 30,000 mining workers in Indonesia between 2020 to 2040 decade.
"Coal mine closures are inevitable, but economic hardship and social strife for workers is not," Dorothy Mei, Project Manager for the Global Coal Mine Tracker at Global Energy Monitor, said in a recent statement.
Indonesia ranks third in the world in coal production and employs 159,900 coal miners, with nearly 40 percent of them located in East Kalimantan, the province with the most intensive mining activity. The mining sector has expanded across 5 million hectares of East Kalimantan and now constitutes 35 percent of the local GDP. The International Energy Agency (IEA) has identified this province as the most coal-dependent region globally, with coal mining employment comprising 4-8 percent of the workforce.
"This situation underscores the importance of Indonesia's JETP in addressing the needs of coal miners during the phase-out of coal power," Global Energy Monitor stated in its October report "Scraping by 2023: Global Coal Miners and the Urgency of A Just Transition".
Layoffs are not limited to Indonesian coal workers as they affect coal workers worldwide. The report suggests that an average of 100 coal miners globally could potentially face unemployment each day by 2035.
"We need to put workers first on the agenda if we want to make sure the just transition isn't just talk. With technologies and markets primed for an energy transition, we have to be proactive about the unique concerns of coal miners and their communities," said Ryan Driskell Tate, Coal Program Director at Global Energy Monitor.
The majority of these coal workers are located in Asia, with China and India expected to bear the brunt of coal mine closures. China has over 1.5 million coal miners who produce more than 85 percent of the country's coal, accounting for half of the world's total coal output. The northern provinces of Shanxi, Henan, and Inner Mongolia are responsible for mining over 25 percent of the world's coal and employ 32 percent of the global mining workforce, which amounts to approximately 870,400 people.
By 2050, nearly 1 million coal mining jobs (990,200) are projected to disappear from operating mines due to the anticipated closures in the coal industry. This could result in layoffs for over one-third (37%) of the existing workforce.
China's Shanxi province is projected to lose the most jobs globally, with nearly a quarter of a million (241,900) jobs at risk by 2050. Meanwhile, Coal India, a state-owned coal mining company, faces the largest potential job cuts, with 73,800 direct workers at risk by mid-century.
"The coal industry has a long list of mines that will close in the near term – many of them state-owned enterprises with a government stake. Governments need to shoulder their share of the burden to ensure a managed transition for those workers and communities as we move into a clean energy economy," Tiffany Means, Researcher at Global Energy Monitor, said.