German energy giant RWE said on Tuesday that it will phase out the burning of coal by 2030, saving 280 million metric tons of climate-changing greenhouse gas emissions.
The decision will accelerate the closure of some of Europe’s most polluting power plants and a vast lignite strip mine in the west of the country.
Resident of several villages and farms west of Cologne near the Garzweiler mine will no longer face eviction. The exception is Luetzerath, a hamlet that has been the focus of protests by environmentalists and which will now need to be cleared to extract more coal in the short-term.