Governing Coal Transition in Japan, China and India: Solutions for Just Transition

The Communique of the G7 Summit in 2018 reaffirmed their strong commitment to implement the Paris Agreement through reducing emissions while strengthening resilience and reducing vulnerability as well as ensuring a just transition. Discussions of climate and energy justice, the key basis of the aforementioned consideration, focus on who produced no contributions to the increase of the climate change become subject to its concentrated adverse effects especially marginalised and displaced communities from climate change. Yet, unfortunately, the impacts of the power sector decarbonisation in fossil fuel communities have been less considered in this discussion, especially the coal phase-out in China, the world largest coal producer and India, the second largest. It is indisputable that the reduction of fossil fuel use is necessary step and right direction to mitigate climate change and decrease air pollution so that we could be benefited from better environment. However, the transition impacts to workers and communities those have sacrificed their life and environment for the world economic growth and now affected from economics and social depression should be considered as one of components of the climate justice discussion. This presentation covers aspects and considerations that influenced the degree and scale of change in fossil fuel industries in Japan, China and India; encourage in depth recognition of the local situation; and suggest inter/national climate policies must provide a fair and just transition toward sustainable future.