Training and dialogue: India’s coal unions on being part of energy transition

As India, the second largest coal consumer in the world, moves away from coal, policymakers have been mulling over what shape a just transition policy should take. But what do coal union leaders – the central stakeholders in the energy transition – feel about it?

A new study led by researchers from the Just Transition Research Centre at the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences at the Indian Institute of Technology-Kanpur set out to capture the perspectives of major coal unions in India, that have largely been left out of the discourse on a just transition – a fair and inclusive energy transition from a fossil-fuel-dominated regime towards a non-fossil-fuel one.

India aims to reach net-zero emissions by 2070, which means its emissions would need to peak over the next decade and a half, before declining to net-zero. Some of the reductions are planned to come from the coal sector, which is responsible for 72% of India’s fuel-related emissions.

Transitioning away from coal – India’s primary energy source – means ensuring the process is just and equitable for the coal workforce. Around 13 million people are employed in the coal sector, both formally and informally.

Incorporating the views of union leaders and coal workers in such deliberations can ensure the process...

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