Lessons from previous ‘COAL TRANSITIONS’

The need for a so-called ‘just transition’ is acknowledged, away from carbon intensive activities, such as coal production and use. But what might a just transition look like in practice? What specific risks need to be managed and what are the best approaches to managing them? There is an urgent need to develop a deeper understanding of these issues.

It is to this need that this report tries to respond. It provides a summary of lessons from six historical case studies of regional coal mining transitions that have occurred or are ongoing in Europe and the United States in recent decades.

These case studies and this report were developed as part of a broader project led by IDDRI and Climate Strategies, entitled ‘Coal Transitions: Research and Dialogue on the Future of Coal’. This project seeks to utilise these historical lessons to facilitate the development of feasible coal transition scenarios in large coal producing countries today.