Planning for a just coal energy transition from the ground up: Engaging coalfield communities in India for a fossil-free future

This research project engages coalfield communities in India to develop a replicable framework for a just energy transition that is participatory, bottom-up and socially inclusive. The task is urgent, given the expansion, rather than reduction, of coal use in India.

At the moment, coal provides national energy security in India, and it is a source of livelihood and domestic fuel for millions.

However, it also results in displacement and environmental degradation as well as vast emissions capable on their own of upsetting global climate change goals.

Empirically we seek community perspectives of a just energy transition from two coalfields in Jharkhand state characterised by long-term and more recent mine expansions on indigenous lands.

It is clear that a just transition away from coal needs to account for both historical injustices of indigenous groups displaced to make way for vast coal pits, and the millions of people who find precarious, but nevertheless crucial, livelihood support in the informal coal sector at the moment.

By investigating a transition away from coal from the vantage point of coal-dependent communities, this project shows how different stakeholders in a highly diverse Global South country envisage justice in transitioning to a fossil-free future. The outcome is a framework able to shape bottom-up planning towards more sustainable forms of energy and livelihoods.