Just transition: Practices and visions of coal-mine closure and post-coal development in Shanxi, China

As the world’s largest coal producer and consumer, China’s rapid transition away from coal is essential for securing a global climate-safe future. However, this transition has been slow and immensely challenging. The coal sector provides a reliable and cheap energy source; it is an engine for regional economic growth and a significant source of employment. The transition beyond coal-based economies demands strategies of fairness and inclusivity, in other words, a just transition. A just transition rapidly moves toward carbon neutrality without disproportionately affecting certain regions or communities.
This project will deliver rigorous empirical data exploring the relationship between social justice and low-carbon transitions in Shanxi, China’s largest coal-producing province. Shanxi’s regional economy relies on coal mining, making it an ideal place to study the politics and policies of just transition. The two key research objectives are (1) to examine the practices and visions of just transition in coal mine closures and the post-coal transition, and (2) to develop a deeper understanding of the just transition through an analysis from three political-economic perspectives: central-local relations, statecorporate relations, and state-civil society relations. This project will develop a critical and contextualized understanding of ongoing and envisioned transition strategies and identify hurdles to achieving a rapid and just transition away from coal.
The empirical study will be underpinned by stakeholder interviews from four coal cities in Shanxi. We will conduct 160 interviews and 4 deliberative workshops with government officials, managers and workers from state-owned and privately owned coal companies, local residents, and civil society actors involved in coal mine closure and transition. Furthermore, we will comprehensively map the various forms of policy support for the coal transition in 43 major coal cities across China. The research team has conducted preliminary fieldwork and established contact with local stakeholders. This groundwork has facilitated deeper understandings of local contexts and informed the research design.
The main contributions include: (1) policy impact: to enhance the policy relevance of just transition studies by building knowledge on concrete practices and policies promoting the just coal phase-out; (2) geographical expansion: to broaden the geographical scope of just transition research by reimagining just transitions beyond Western settings; and (3) theoretical advancement: to align just transition theory with political economy perspectives, to offer a deeper and more nuanced understanding of the underlying power dynamics, economic structures, and social reconfigurations required to achieve a just transition.