Just Transition

In the narrow lanes of Sanganer in Rajasthan, which is known for its centuries-old tradition of block printing, lie a myriad of tiny shops filled with vibrant and colourful clothes and busy block-printing units. Behind these shops lies a larger truth – a number of people working tirelessly in dingy spaces to

As the world transitions away from fossil fuels to more sustainable forms, there arises the need for equitable and just transition for people working in fossil fuel energy sectors. Ensuring that all workers, especially economically vulnerable ones, are not left behind is one of the biggest challenges that developing nations like India will face.

Even after three decades, the village of Manki in Jharkhand’s Chatra district still bears the marks of abandonment with its old houses and rusted electric poles. It was home to workers from a now-abandoned coal mine nearby. Today, the mine is buried under wild shrubs and red-flowering trees,

As the issue of unemployment looms large this election season while the country aspires to ensure a just transition, CarbonCopy looks into the Centre’s Suryamitra scheme, launched in 2015, to skill India’s youth to work in the solar industry. A closer look shows that while the national initiative has made progress, it is uneven

Although pressure on the NTPC had been rising to shut down the plant that had powered the Capital for years, it does not appear to have undertaken any serious planning to deal with its employees, especially contract workers. On October 15, 2018, the state-owned thermal power plant at Badarpur, barely a kilometre from the Delhi-Haryana border, was shut down.

By 2050, nearly 1 million coal mine jobs will no longer exist at operating mines given the coal industry’s foreseeable closures, potentially laying off over 37% of the existing workforce, the report says. A new report found that close to 100 coal mining jobs will be lost per day until 2035 as existing coal mines reach their end.

Despite wide recognition of eventual drawdown of coal and thermal power, there is little to suggest that India is prepared to navigate the tremors of these tectonic shifts. On 7th December, Coal Minister Pralhad Joshi told Lok Sabha that the country has no plans to introduce a Just Transition policy.

Energy transition finance needs to be in line with needs and circumstances, and provided in a way that addresses challenges that go beyond just retirement of coal, and toward the easing of burdens of developing countries in the time of climate impacts.Tuesday was Energy Day at COP27. But there was no substantial energy-related news that came out of the UN meeting.

The programme will have to ensure that a voluntary carbon market does not become a tool to transfer the burden of emission reductions to developing countries, say experts. The United States announced a voluntary carbon market plan at COP27 with the advertised intention to unlock private sources of finance to help developing countries phase out fossil fuel in their energy systems.

As India’s clean energy transition picks up speed, the country has increasingly looked to leverage its experience with climate action in the international climate action landscape. This expansion overseas has prominently come through collaborative inter-governmental campaigns such as the International Solar Alliance. Among geographies where complementary mutually beneficial relationships could

Odisha’s biggest coal producing and key industrial district, Angul, must develop a ‘just transition plan’ to prevent job/income loss, strengthen the local economy and boost government revenue, said a recent report by The International Forum for Environment, Sustainability and Technology (iFOREST).

The clarion calls for unhindered and immediate climate action by the successive reports of Inter- governmental Panel on Climate Change have added to the pressure on nations around the world to deliver. These reports have clearly underscored the inadequacy of existing efforts and stated policy actions in limiting warming to the 1.5 degree C target.

Investing in women’s health, education, and social security is crucial to achieve gender equality in a just transition, say experts. For many women in Dhanbad, the day starts before dawn as they set out on foot to their neighbourhood coal mine. Their job is to carry lumps of coal back from the mine’s depot yard to their male co-workers waiting outside the mine.

The green transition must include both not just jobs but also social security for informal workers. If it just replicates the injustices of the current system, nothing will change on the ground, say experts. In a report released earlier this year, the International Forum for Environment, Sustainability & Technology (iFOREST) estimated that there are about 120 districts

On Thursday, just as this piece was being prepared to be published, Indian Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri and US Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm jointly convened a virtual ministerial meeting to launch the India-US Strategic Clean Energy Partnership (SCEP). Through the formation of six Task Forces, the SCEP has a stated objective of increasing inter-governmental