Undermined Efforts? The Ambiguous Role of Mining Jobs in a Just Transition

Abstract

In finding alternatives for workers currently employed in the fossil fuel industry, just transition policies can ultimately undermine environmental concerns and efforts to redress inequalities. For example, it is suggested to create jobs in other extractive industries to meet the material requirements of renewable energy technologies. We focus on this ambiguous role of job preservation as a key demand of just transition and review selected national transformation strategies from the Global North and the Global South. Comparing qualification requirements of coal mining jobs with other alternatives, we propose to complement current strategies with jobs outside the extractive sector value chains. Fostering these can work towards realising social and environmental goals in synergy, rather than pitting one against the other. We conclude that finding work opportunities that minimise extraction requirements and benefit local communities can help level global and regional inequalities by allowing mining regions to escape from their current positions in global value chains.