‘1 in 7 districts in India dependent on coal for livelihood, switch to green energy must compensate socio-economic displacement’
In a webinar themed on the ‘just transition’ from thermal power plants to greener alternatives of energy production, experts underlined that the switch to green energy will have to consider the livelihoods of the population dependent on coal production and allied activities. Details here.
The webinar titled, ‘Pathway to the Just Transition for India's Coal Rich States’ emphasised on the concern about the socio-economic fate of workers
Out of roughly 700 districts in India, around 120 are directly dependent on coal for their livelihood, stated CarbonCopy — a Delhi-based watchdog that monitors issues such as climate change, air pollution and sustainable energy.
“Amidst increasing extreme weather events which scientists claim have a climate footprint, transition to a low carbon economy is an imperative but requires an economic transformation. Out of 700 districts in India, around 120 are directly dependent on coal for their livelihood,” the press statement issued on the webinar stated.
The webinar titled, ‘Pathway to the Just Transition for India’s Coal Rich States’ was held on July 21 and emphasised on the concern about the socio-economic fate of workers especially from coal-rich states like Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh where coal extraction is the primary revenue source.
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Vaibhav Chaturvedi, Fellow at Council for Energy Environment and Water (CEEW) said in the webinar, “Just Transition (the equitable transition from coal to green energy) is a massive exercise not just an incremental change, it is a change of the socio-economic structure. In the existing scenario, climate mitigation does not reflect in any financial discussion, the question of equity in just transition will be very critical.”
Drawing a contrast between the conditions in the European countries that have more or less shifted towards greener energy alternatives, the statement highlighted that while the concept of ‘Just Transition’ in European economies is focused on re-skilling and creating opportunities for the formal workforce, India’s coal sector involves an informal workforce which is nearly two-and-a-half to three times more than its formal workers.
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Srestha Banerjee, Director – Just Transition at iForest said,“While coal becomes the primary economic driver of coal-intensive states, development of sectors like agriculture, forest based livelihoods and fisheries etc get neglected and often the water and soil pollution also affects these sectors, along with depleted water tables.”
Meanwhile, Shweta Narayan, Climate & Health campaigner with Health Care Without Harm, said in the webinar, “Coal is a parasitic industry, its monoculture takes over everything making it the only source of income. Coal industries exploit and build upon caste divides and thrive on existing differences”.
“We are only calculating the cost of transition, but we must factor in who is going to bear the impact of social and health responsibility? We need to build the infrastructure for the alternative and take people into consideration. The word Just in Just Transition stands for Justice and historical injustices have to be undone and their consequences. Justice cannot only be for the workers in the coal sector but for the entire impacted community as a whole,” Narayan added.