Politics of a Just Transition: lessons from the UK coal mines

Abstract

ABSTRACT The concept of a Just Transition [JT] gained considerable international interest as exemplified by a dedicated pavilion set up for the JT by the European Commission and the ILO at the COP27. Although the concept now encompasses a wide range of justices such as the social, legal, and environmental justices, the original concept itself can be traced back to trade union movements in the 1980s. Drawing lessons from the socio-economic damage caused by a failed JT of the UK mine closures between the 1980s and 1990s, this paper argues that former coal mining communities in the UK today continues to face similar problems identified in the past, which makes them uniquely vulnerable against the current process of JT. This paper utilises the multi-level perspective [MLP] theory by fleshing out the role of politics and policy in enabling a JT, using a case study approach to the coal mine closure in the North of England. This paper identifies the failed JT at every stage of the MLP theory. It concludes that the example of the coal mine closures provides a valuable lesson for a successful JT today such as stronger key stakeholder cooperation and a place-based response through significant decentralisation.