⁍ Poland should not phase out coal before 2060, mining trade unions said on Thursday.

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⁍ Talks with the government continued on the restructuring of the industry.

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⁍ Poland is the only European Union state to refuse to pledge climate neutrality by 2050.

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– Poland’s ruling Law and Justice party says it needs more time to shift the country’s economy from coal to cleaner energy sources—but that’s not sitting well with the nation’s coal miners. The country generates most of its electricity from coal, and trade unions say it should not phase out coal until 2060 at the earliest, Reuters reports. “We have 10 years of discrepancy,” the head of the Solidarity union in southern Poland says. “Maybe we’ll meet halfway.” The ruling Law and Justice party says it needs more time to shift the country from coal to cleaner energy sources—but that’s not sitting well with the nation’s coal miners. The powerful coal trade unions have usually been successful in stopping the government from making deep cuts to the sector. But the coronavirus crisis and EU climate policies, which have added to the cost of burning fossil fuels rather than using cleaner energy sources, have pushed Warsaw into more decisive steps to tackle the loss-making sector. The government and management at Poland’s biggest coal producer, PGG, had planned to close at least two mines, which have been hit by falling demand for coal, rising costs, and a rapid spread of coronavirus cases. But with progress slow and the unions angered by a climate ministry proposal to phase out coal more quickly, miners started an underground protest on Monday. “Some elements of these talks have made progress today … we have decided that the transformation of the sector will follow a similar pattern as it did in Germany,” the head of the Solidarity union said.