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In a cosy cinema room at the Bełchatów coal-fired power station in central Poland, a promotional video played to curious visitors boasts that the open-pit mine which feeds the power station is one of the largest holes ever dug in the ground. 

The caverns of the Bełchatów coal mine are wide enough to fit around 5,000 full-sized football pitches and are rich in lignite – a soft, brown and wet type of coal which looks and feels like tree bark but is particularly damaging to human health when burned.

After more than 40 years of mining, the lignite is running out and plans are being made to wind down operations at the site.

PGE, the Polish state-owned utility which runs the mine and adjacent power plant – the largest and dirtiest in Europe – has a 45-year plan to turn the mining pits into the country’s deepest lake and the coal heaps into a series of hills for recreational use. 

In 2070, PGE envisions visitors will be able to ski in the winter, golf, cycle, kayak, quad-bike, horse ride, climb and even scuba dive down to see the soon-to-be-underwater old mining machines.

PGE’s visualisation of what the redeveloped Bełchatów site will look like (Photos: PGE)

But local governments officials and researchers warn that the plans risk failing to deliver the green and economically fair transition deserved by Bełchatów communities whose livelihoods have depended on coal. They argue the plans could waste the site’s huge renewable energy potential while the tourist attraction fails to replace the at least 7,500 jobs that will be lost when the mine and power plant close, potentially driving away the region’s young people.  

As deputy director of the Just Transition Fund Department of Łódź province where Bełchatów is located, Malgorzata Misiak’s job is to cushion the blow of the region’s transition away from coal and make sure the benefits of what replaces it are shared as equally as possible.

She told Climate Home PGE’s plan to let the mine gradually fill over decades overlooks the many more jobs that could be created in a much shorter time-frame with renewable energy investment.

Anabella Rosemberg, a senior adviser on just transition at Climate Action Network International, said: “PGE is pledging an investment on a timeline by which time all its executives will be retired, so won’t be held accountable if it fails. By then, the communities dependent on Bełchatów would have already joined the thousands considering that the transition is paid by poor people.”

Forum Energii analyst Aleksandra Gawlikowska-Fyk warned that PGE’s plan would also overlook the region’s need for clean energy.

PGE did not respond to a request from Climate Home for comment for this article, while a spokesperson for the white-collar Kadra trade union declined to comment by the time of publication.

Europe’s biggest polluter

Opened in what was then the Polish Peoples’ Republic in 1980, Bełchatów (pronounced Bel-hat-ov) grew to become the biggest coal mine and coal power station in Europe. It still employs about 7,500 people directly today and sustains many more jobs indirectly. 

In recent years, the power plant has produced nearly a fifth of Poland’s electricity. Its importance to the nation’s energy security is such that, given the perceived threat from Russian spies, visitors including Climate Home News, are warned not to publish any photos of the site. 

Because of its size, and coal’s status as the top polluting fossil fuel, Bełchatów is also by far Europe’s biggest greenhouse gas emitter. Its power plant pumps out 35 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent a year – more than Mozambique’s total emissions. 


But its coal is running out and because lignite is very difficult to transport, both the mine and power plant will soon shut down – although exactly when is unclear.

The local government’s 2021 just transition plan says the coal plant will gradually scale down operations through the 2030s until its closure in 2036, while mining will end by 2038.

For Misiak, this is the “official reality” – but in practice, things could turn out differently. “The real pace is dependent on many factors,” she said.

Two hours down the road from Bełchatów, Rybnik coal power plant was scheduled to close in 2030. Last month, PGE announced it would shut by the end of 2025 instead. The chair of Poland’s Solidarity trade union called it a “catastrophe for the region” as about 500 jobs will be lost at the plant, with more in the nearby mines and other suppliers. 

People in Bełchatów fear the same fate, Misiak said. Researchers at the University of Łódź and a women’s community group called ‘Yes for Bełchatów’ conducted a survey of over 350 local women earlier this year for a report on the gender aspects of the region’s transition away from coal. It found they “are really afraid of negative consequences”.

From pits to ponds

Turning the mine into a leisure park offers a “nice picture” of what environmental rehabilitation can achieve, said Misiak. But the timescale involved is so long that it doesn’t offer the thousands of people who still earn their living from coal jobs any viable alternatives. 

“People will not wait for work in tourism,” she said, adding “they will die” before then. 

Even if the project did get off the ground, activities such as scuba diving and kayaking might not be an economic match for what the coal industry has been to the region in recent times, she said. 

Over a lunch of dumplings and cheesecake in a hotel near the mine, Misiak delivered a presentation on Bełchatów’s transition to researchers who had travelled to Poland from around the world to learn about its approach to supporting communities affected by the shift away from coal.

The word “depopulation” followed by three exclamation marks stood out on one of her slides. The University of Łódź study found that young women in the region are already leaving for big cities inside Poland or going abroad, leaving behind an ageing community.

And the outflow of people could get worse. The researchers surveyed 65 women working in the energy industry – of which nearly a third said they were planning to leave the region when the mine and power plant shut down.

Listening to Misiak’s presentation in the hotel was Martha Mendrofa, of the Indonesian Institute for Essential Services Reform. Indonesian coal companies too have rehabilitated old mines as tourism assets, she said – from opening mining museums to eco-tourism experiences.

But the number of jobs and revenue generated has not met locals’ expectations nor made-up for the lost coal industry, she said.

The Geierswalder lake in Germany is on the site of an old coal mine, photographed on August 24, 2024 (Photo: IMAGO/Max Gaertner/via Reuters Connect)

In Germany and Australia, old coal mines have also been turned into lakes.

But converting the Polish site into a clean-energy generation hub would be a better long-term investment for the region, Misiak said.

A 2022 analysis by BloombergNEF (BNEF) lays out what replacing the coal mine and plant with solar and wind power, along with a bit of nuclear or gas generation, might look like.

It found that 6-11 gigawatts (GW) of renewable energy capacity could be built on the site, exceeding the coal plant’s 5 GW. But currently PGE plans to install just 0.7 GW of renewables capacity. Gawlikowska-Fyk said this was “far less than needed in the region and far less than possible”.

The BNEF report said solar panels could be installed on the shallower edges of the mine and around the main pits. As rainwater fills the deeper pits, floating solar farms could also be considered. “PGE could go significantly beyond its current plan to build [0.6 GW] of solar at Bełchatów,” the BNEF report concluded. The region could produce 5-15 GW of wind power too, it found.

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Like all fossil-fuel power plants, Bełchatów is already equipped with infrastructure like transmission lines designed to transport electricity from where is is produced to where it is needed, such as the nearby steel mill in Częstochowa.

Permanently ending power generation on the site would let this expensive infrastructure go to waste, the BNEF analysis warned. 

Outside of energy

Installing renewable energy infrastructure might create more local jobs than PGE’s lake plans, but even this might not be enough to replace lost coal employment, Misiak said. 

Ensuring the region isn’t left behind in the energy transition would require attracting other investors and stimulating small businesses, she added.

Fortunately, Poland has access to European pots of funding for that purpose. The European Union’s Just Transition Fund is giving the province €369 million ($400m) to invest in activities like support for small businesses, research laboratories, retraining coal workers and deploying electric buses. Poland as a whole will get €3.85 billion ($4.16bn) to move to a lower-carbon economic model.

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The EU’s funds will stretch to pay for training, including driving lessons, to help local people find new jobs and cover entrepreneurs’ childcare so they can keep their businesses open longer, said Misiak. 

The Polish government offers coal miners “generous” retraining opportunities, severance payments and pension schemes, she said, adding that the Belchatów miners will be comfortable in their retirement. But money isn’t everything – and many will feel “frustrated” at being jobless after years of hard graft, she explained.

Elsewhere around the world, governments are trying to transition communities away from coal without the huge resources Belchatów can tap into to help them.

Indonesia, for example, has a donor-backed Just Energy Transition Partnership bringing in billions of dollars from wealthy governments like the EU and international investors – but that money is likely to come mostly as loans for energy infrastructure. According to researcher Mendrofa, there is nothing like the EU’s Just Transition Fund with its emphasis on social justice.

“The money we do have right now is not really focused on the socioeconomic aspect of coal transitions,” she said, “so it’s very interesting for me to see how the money can be a catalyst for the economic transformations agenda.”

(Reporting by Joe Lo; editing by Chloe Farand and Megan Rowling)

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Plans to turn Europe’s biggest coal mine into a leisure lake prove divisive

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Big fishing nations secure last-minute seat to write rules on deep sea conservation

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January 20, 2026

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As a treaty to protect the High Seas entered into force this month with backing from more than 80 countries, major fishing nations China, Japan and Brazil secured a last-minute seat at the table to negotiate the procedural rules, funding and other key issues ahead of the treaty’s first COP.

The Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) pact – known as the High Seas Treaty – was agreed in 2023. It is seen as key to achieving a global goal to protect at least 30% of the planet’s ecosystems by 2030, as it lays the legal foundation for creating international marine protected areas (MPAs) in the deep ocean. The high seas encompass two-thirds of the world’s ocean.

Last September, the treaty reached the key threshold of 60 national ratifications needed for it to enter into force – a number that has kept growing and currently stands at 83. In total, 145 countries have signed the pact, which indicates their intention to ratify it. The treaty formally took effect on January 17.

    “In a world of accelerating crises – climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution – the agreement fills a critical governance gap to secure a resilient and productive ocean for all,” UN Secretary-General António Guterres said in a statement.

    Julio Cordano, Chile’s director of environment, climate change and oceans, said the treaty is “one of the most important victories of our time”. He added that the Nazca and Salas y Gómez ridge – off the coast of South America in the Pacific – could be one of the first intact biodiversity hotspots to gain protection.

    Scientists have warned the ocean is losing its capacity to act as a carbon sink, as emissions and global temperatures rise. Currently, the ocean traps around 90% of the excess planetary heat building up from global warming. Marine protected areas could become a tool to restore “blue carbon sinks”, by boosting carbon absorption in the seafloor and protecting carbon-trapping organisms such as microalgae.

    Last-minute ratifications

    Countries that have ratified the BBNJ will now be bound by some of its rules, including a key provision requiring countries to carry out environmental impact assessments (EIA) for activities that could have an impact on the deep ocean’s biodiversity, such as fisheries.

    Activities that affect the ocean floor, such as deep-sea mining, will still fall under the jurisdiction of the International Seabed Authority (ISA).

    Nations are still negotiating the rules of the BBNJ’s other provisions, including creating new MPAs and sharing genetic resources from biodiversity in the deep ocean. They will meet in one last negotiating session in late March, ahead of the treaty’s first COP (conference of the parties) set to take place in late 2026 or early 2027.

    China and Japan – which are major fishing nations that operate in deep waters – ratified the BBNJ in December 2025, just as the treaty was about to enter into force. Other top fishing nations on the high seas like South Korea and Spain had already ratified the BBNJ last year.

    Power play: Can a defensive Europe stick with decarbonisation in Davos?

    Tom Pickerell, ocean programme director at the World Resources Institute (WRI), said that while the last-minute ratifications from China, Japan and Brazil were not required for the treaty’s entry into force, they were about high-seas players ensuring they have a “seat at the table”.

    “As major fishing nations and geopolitical powers, these countries recognise that upcoming BBNJ COP negotiations will shape rules affecting critical commercial sectors – from shipping and fisheries to biotechnology – and influence how governments engage with the treaty going forward,” Pickerell told Climate Home News.

    Some major Western countries – including the US, Canada, Germany and the UK – have yet to ratify the treaty and unless they do, they will be left out of drafting its procedural rules. A group of 18 environmental groups urged the UK government to ratify it quickly, saying it would be a “failure of leadership” to miss the BBNJ’s first COP.

    Finalising the rules

    Countries will meet from March 23 to April 2 for the treaty’s last “preparatory commission” (PrepCom) session in New York, which is set to draft a proposal for the treaty’s procedural rules, among them on funding processes and where the secretariat will be hosted – with current offers coming from China in the city of Xiamen, Chile’s Valparaiso and Brussels in Belgium.

    Janine Felson, a diplomat from Belize and co-chair of the “PrepCom”, told journalists in an online briefing “we’re now at a critical stage” because, with the treaty having entered into force, the preparatory commission is “pretty much a definitive moment for the agreement”.

    Felson said countries will meet to “tidy up those rules that are necessary for the conference of the parties to convene” and for states to begin implementation. The first COP will adopt the rules of engagement.

    She noted there are “some contentious issues” on whether the BBNJ should follow the structure of other international treaties such as the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), as well as differing opinions on how prescriptive its procedures should be.

    “While there is this tension on how far can we be held to precedent, there is also recognition that this BBNJ agreement has quite a bit to contribute in enhancing global ocean governance,” she added.

    The post Big fishing nations secure last-minute seat to write rules on deep sea conservation appeared first on Climate Home News.

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    Climate at Davos: Energy security in the geopolitical driving seat 

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    January 20, 2026

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    The annual World Economic Forum got underway on Tuesday in the Swiss ski resort of Davos, providing a snowy stage for government and business leaders to opine on international affairs. With attention focused on the latest crisis – a potential US-European trade war over Greenland – climate change has slid down the agenda.

    Despite this, a number of panels are addressing issues like electric vehicles, energy security and climate science. Keep up with top takeaways from those discussions and other climate news from Davos in our bulletin, which we’ll update throughout the day.

    From oil to electrons – energy security enters a new era

    Energy crises spurred by geopolitical tensions are nothing new – remember the 1970s oil shock spurred by the embargo Arab producers slapped on countries that had supported Israel during the Yom Kippur War, leading to rocketing inflation and huge economic pain.

    But, a Davos panel on energy security heard, the situation has since changed. Oil now accounts for less than 30% of the world’s energy supply, down from more than 50% in 1973. This shift, combined with a supply glut, means oil is taking more of a back seat, according to International Energy Agency boss Fatih Birol.

    Instead, in an “age of electricity” driven by transport and technology, energy diplomacy is more focused on key elements of that supply chain, in the form of critical minerals, natural gas and the security buffer renewables can provide. That requires new thinking, Birol added.

    “Energy and geopolitics were always interwoven but I have never ever seen that the energy security risks are so multiplied,” he said. “Energy security, in my view, should be elevated to the level of national security today.”

    In this context, he noted how many countries are now seeking to generate their own energy as far as possible, including from nuclear and renewables, and when doing energy deals, they are considering not only costs but also whether they can rely on partners in the long-term.

      In the case of Europe – which saw energy prices jump after sanctions on Russian gas imports in the wake of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine – energy security rooted in homegrown supply is a top priority, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in Davos on Tuesday.

      Outlining the bloc’s “affordable energy action plan” in a keynote speech at the World Economic Forum, she emphasised that Europe is “massively investing in our energy security and independence” with interconnectors and grids based on domestically produced sources of power.

      The EU, she said, is trying to promote nuclear and renewables as much as possible “to bring down prices and cut dependencies; to put an end to price volatility, manipulation and supply shocks,” calling for a faster transition to clean energy.

      “Because homegrown, reliable, resilient and cheaper energy will drive our economic growth and deliver for Europeans and secure our independence,” she added.

      Comment – Power play: Can a defensive Europe stick with decarbonisation in Davos?

      AES boss calls for “more technical talk” on supply chains

      Earlier, the energy security panel tackled the risks related to supply chains for clean energy and electrification, which are being partly fuelled by rising demand from data centres and electric vehicles.

      The minerals and metals that are required for batteries, cables and other components are largely under the control of China, which has invested massively in extracting and processing those materials both at home and overseas. Efforts to boost energy security by breaking dependence on China will continue shaping diplomacy now and in the future, the experts noted.

      Copper – a key raw material for the energy transition – is set for a 70% increase in demand over the next 25 years, said Mike Henry, CEO of mining giant BHP, with remaining deposits now harder to exploit. Prices are on an upward trend, and this offers opportunities for Latin America, a region rich in the metal, he added.

      At ‘Davos of mining’, Saudi Arabia shapes new narrative on minerals

      Andrés Gluski, CEO of AES – which describes itself as “the largest US-based global power company”, generating and selling all kinds of energy to companies – said there is a lack of discussion about supply chains compared with ideological positioning on energy sources.

      Instead he called for “more technical talk” about boosting battery storage to smooth out electricity supply and using existing infrastructure “smarter”. While new nuclear technologies such as small modular reactors are promising, it will be at least a decade before they can be deployed effectively, he noted.

      In the meantime, with electricity demand rising rapidly, the politicisation of the debate around renewables as an energy source “makes no sense whatsoever”, he added.

      The post Climate at Davos: Energy security in the geopolitical driving seat  appeared first on Climate Home News.

      Climate at Davos: Energy security in the geopolitical driving seat 

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      A Record Wildfire Season Inspires Wyoming to Prepare for an Increasingly Fiery Future

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      January 20, 2026

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      As the Cowboy State faces larger and costlier blazes, scientists warn that the flames could make many of its iconic landscapes unrecognizable within decades.

      By Jake Bolster

      In six generations, Jake Christian’s family had never seen a fire like the one that blazed toward his ranch near Buffalo, Wyoming, late in the summer of 2024. Its flames towered a dozen feet in the air, consuming grassland at a terrifying speed and jumping a four-lane highway on its race northward.

      A Record Wildfire Season Inspires Wyoming to Prepare for an Increasingly Fiery Future

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