There is a just pathway beyond coal.
Coal is an industry in decline, but it will persist well beyond the point of climate danger. Meanwhile workers are being left in the lurch.
These are the key reports and studies that show the path toward just transitions to sustainable new industries and livelihoods.
Coal myths & energy poverty
These reports all tackle the claims of the coal industry and their supporters that coal is necessary to lift developing countries out of energy poverty, rather than a polluting and uneconomic non-solution that reflects dominant structures of corporate & political power. Such arguments neglect the enormous mortality from burning coal in homes and breathing PM2.5 pollution, and the violent disruption created by vast coal projects to rural communities in areas such as India’s Chhattisgarh and Colombia’s vast Cerrejón mine.
The Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis points out that the real cause of energy poverty is inequality, and that investment in decentralised renewable energy systems will produce health benefits, poverty reduction and employment. The Overseas Development Institute argues that measures to eliminate energy poverty must be compatible with stabilising the Earth’s climate, and that most rural households are too far from electricity grids for coal power to be an economic alternative to smaller-scale local renewable investment.
Coal is no solution to energy poverty
Energy poverty - how coal proponents have it wrong - IEEFA
Scaling up clean energy to fight global poverty - Overseas Development Institute
Just transition as a climate solution
Both analysts and states understand that ending the production and burning of coal is crucial for avoiding catastrophic global heating. A key emerging theme is an awareness that supply-side measures will be needed.
In Science a team of economists argue that regulating demand alone - the Paris approach - could create perverse economic incentives to increase the consumption of fossil fuels. Carbon leakage in fossil fuel markets can be avoided by combining demand and supply side restrictions. They thus call for the Paris Agreement to be supplemented by an international supply side treaty.
The Nature study argues that focusing on climatic and health impacts is not enough, given that mining employs 8 million people and yields $900 bn in revenue.
What is needed is a just transition providing quality jobs and regional economic futures, while limiting adverse impacts on consumers and energy-intensive industries.
The Powering Past Coal Alliance of 61 governments commits to phasing out coal by 2030 in the OECD and EU, and 2050 in the rest of the world. It insists that coal be phased out in a sustainable and economically inclusive way, including appropriate support for workers and communities.
US Democratic Vice-Presidential nominee Kamala Harris is also championing a proposal for the US to convene a 2021 summit of the world’s major emitters to initiate a cooperative managed phase-down of fossil fuels - a pathbreaking proposal for climate leadership beyond the Paris paradigm.
The case for a supply-side climate treaty - Science
The Powering Past Coal Alliance
Kamala Harris’ Plan For International Climate Cooperation - Columbia Earth Institute
The future of coal in a carbon-constrained climate - Nature Climate Change
Curbing fossil fuel supply to achieve climate goals - Climate Policy
Coal phaseout is a ‘no-regret’ plan for tackling climate change - CarbonBrief
Making just transitions happen
Many governments are neglecting the future of their coal regions by failing to develop smart new industry policy for green transformation.
In an important 2018 study, the UNSW Industrial Relations Research Centre compared failed transitions in Appalachia, Wales and Australia that left workers abandoned with successful transitions in Singapore, Limburg and the Ruhr Valley. It shows that forward planning, investment in industry diversification, staggering of closures and comprehensive just transition measures reshaped the regional economy with no forced job losses.
The IRRC recommended the establishment of a national, independent statutory authority to plan, coordinate and manage the transition.
In Europe, the PPCA has established a Just Transition Taskforce to develop knowledge about best practice, and the European Union is moving on the issue, which has become central to negotiations over the EU’s budget and climate policy and a proposed European Green Deal. The E3G Briefing Paper lays out four benchmarks for the EU’s new Just Transition Fund, including the prioritisation of coal and carbon intensive regions, and a commitment to add value to coal and carbon intensive regions and sectors by financing the development of Just Transition strategies.
In Australia, Hunter Renewal is a valuable community initiative to drive dialogue and planning for industry diversification beyond resources, but governments are yet to engage.
The Ruhr or Appalachia? UNSW Industrial Relations Research Centre
PPCA Just Transition Taskforce
The EU Just Transition Fund: 4 Benchmarks for Success
Hunter renewal - a community initiative for industry transition beyond resources
Implementing coal transitions – Report of the Coal Transitions project
The Coal Transitions Project
