Here is the full transcript of Xiaojun “Tom” Wang’s talk titled “The Human Cost of Coal Mining in China” at TED 2024 conference.
Listen to the audio version here:
TRANSCRIPT:
So in early April this year, I went back to my hometown, Lüliang in central China’s Shanxi Province, for the tomb-sweeping day. The tomb-sweeping day, literally, it is a day when we go and clean the tombs of our deceased beloved ones. It is also a day when we go and ask for blessings from our ancestors. And this year, my sister became a new grandmother, and she wanted to ask for blessings from our father for her new grandson.
We had a hard time finding our father’s tomb. The roads leading into our village had wide cracks, with signs telling people to stay away and beware of landslides. Landslides in my usually dry hometown used to be just a rare natural disaster. Today, they are manmade, everyday threats because our mountains are being hollowed out by coal mining.
Personal Background
And these are the very mountains where my father and my grandfather and our ancestors are buried. My name is Xiaojun Wang. People who are familiar with Chinese language, culture or history will immediately know I was born in the 1970s because of the character “jun” in my name. Jun means soldier, and that, back then, was the best job in China.
And that was what my veteran grandfather had expected me to do: to grow up and become a soldier, just like him. I grew up, became a teacher, a journalist, and then an environmental activist. My work today focuses mostly on helping my village, my province and China to move out of coal addiction, regain our confidence and build a new, clean living without coal. Because I have witnessed how my village, my province had been destroyed by coal mining and coal burning.
Coal Mining in Shanxi Province
My province, over 40 percent, sits on top of coal and coal mining. At its peak in the mid-1990s, we had about 11,000 coal mines all over the province. And even today, right now, more than one million people work at various coal mines. And that means one of every 30 people.
One of them was my cousin, who also had the name or the character “jun” in his name. So he shared the same expectations from our grandfather. He grew up, became a coal miner. Ten years ago, he was injured in a coal mine accident. He got addicted to painkillers. His liver was damaged. And three years ago, he died. He was younger than me. And now today, he’s buried in the same mountains as our grandfather.
Even buried, he’s still not free from coal-mine related accidents. We have been told to remove or to relocate our family graveyard. By the end of this year, we need to find new places for our deceased beloved ones. My cousin, our fathers, our grandfather, our grandparents, our ancestors.
Shanxi as China’s “Eldest Coal Brother”
And that is the reality my province has been stuck in. We are proudly, ironically speaking, the eldest coal brother for China. We produce over one billion tons of coal every year. So one billion tons of coal is dug out every year from underneath our mountains, and most of that is sent to other provinces and cities to support their economies.
This highly centralized coordination mechanism in China is called the “sibling mechanism.” We support 24 provinces and cities in China. They rely on our coal for their heating, their electricity, their industries, almost everything. And we are very proud to be that.
Recent Challenges and Flooding
In mid-2021, an energy crisis hit China. So the parents in Beijing asked Shanxi to keep digging and to dig harder and faster. And we, the eldest coal brother, Shanxi, responded with earnest and pride.
Then in early October, a very rare heavy rainstorm hit our usually dry province. Almost 100 towns got flooded. More landslides happened. Over 120,000 people had to evacuate, leaving behind their houses, their crops, their livestock, to soak, to rot, to die and to collapse in flood water.
At the same time, our governor held a press conference. Not to ask Beijing for rescue or for help, but to promise that we would keep digging and to ensure the rest of the other 24 siblings coal supply for the rest of the year. Then, one month later, in November, at COP26 in Glasgow, the whole world, China included, promised and committed to a coal phasedown.
China had also made its domestic commitments to reach carbon emission peak by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2060. The most effective ways to reach these goals or these targets is to reduce the burning of coal. So clearly, the direction for coal has been very firmly set. Coal has no future.
Moving Away from Coal Dependence
Many of the 24 provinces and cities, who have been relying heavily on Shanxi coal, our coal, are taking actions to move away from coal into a cleaner, stronger economy that is mainly supported by renewable energy. But our province has been told to keep digging and to dig harder and faster, because the parents in Beijing are still very concerned about another energy crisis.
That is our reality. That is the reality the eldest coal brother Shanxi has been stuck in. Burning less coal is good news for the world. Burning less coal is even good news for Shanxi. Because the sooner all the other siblings start to reduce their reliance on coal, the sooner can we start to climb out of coal mine shafts and to look around, above the ground, for other options and other solutions in the sunlight, in the open, clean air.
Shanxi’s Cultural and Historical Treasures
Above the ground, we have the highest cluster of ancient buildings in China. Over 75 percent of buildings that are older than 1,000 years exist in my province.