Just Transitions in India: barriers to action in coal regions

Project description

India’s energy transition is critical for the world for at least two important reasons: first, India is soon to be the world’s most populous nation. It has an expanding middle class and a rapidly growing urban population. Combined, these factors are going to push India’s energy demand to grow at rates not seen before.

Second, India’s energy system maintains an overwhelming reliance on coal. Nearly 70% of its electricity and 40% of its primary energy demand is met by coal. Energy transition at the scale and speed needed to achieve the global 2°C ambition is nearly impossible without a systematic move away from coal.

India’s energy challenge is therefore, a wicked problem. It is confronted with fulfilling energy demands for upward socio-economic development whilst reducing its carbon footprint. A crucial aspect within this macro challenge relates to the costs of decarbonisation that will overwhelmingly be borne by those who live in, work for, and rely on the coal industry both directly and indirectly, formally and informally. The significance of this issue remains critically under studied.

The proposed project will undertake a grounded assessment of these decarbonisation costs using both qualitative and quantitative research methods. Through extended field work, it will examine enablers and barriers in coal regions that may influence India’s energy transition pathways over the long-term.

In particular, the project will address these research questions:

• What is the nature of coal dependencies at local and regional levels across an identified sample of India’s coal regions?
• How may these dependencies manifest as potential barriers to a coal phase out, jeopardising national decarbonisation efforts?
• What influence may cross-jurisdictional policy environments play in enabling or impeding links between coal dependencies and energy transitions?
• Drawing on the above, what will a Just Transition in India’s coal regions look like?

Outcomes

We expect the project to contribute to growing scholarship on Just Transitions.

It will provide carefully curated policy recommendations across scale national, regional and local. A key focus will be to ensure that voices from diverse stakeholder groups including, but not limited to, local communities, organised labour, coal and allied industry, state governments and national decision making bodies are allowed to find common ground, identify a shared vision of a Just Transition future, and work towards operationalising this vision.

Specifically, the project will lead to:

• Two academic papers in high-impact journals such as Energy Policy and Energy Research and Social Science.
• A white paper on “Just Transitions in India’s coal regions” to be presented to various stakeholders, including political leadership (MPs, MLAs, regional leaders), bureaucrats in relevant ministries and geographies, and business leaders in coal regions.
• An industry roundtable on Just Transitions in partnership with organisations such as iFOREST* to establish long-term industry-supported research partnership between UQ, IITD and iFOREST.

*iFOREST (or, International Forum for Environment, Sustainability and Technology) is a think tank based in Delhi. Its recently established International Just Transition Centre is India’s leading voice on Just Transitions and brings academics, members of parliament, grassroots civil society and the private sector together to build capacity through evidence-based policy research and engagement.

Essential capabilities

• It is expected that the student would be broadly interested in the topic of energy transitions.
• Some prior knowledge of India’s coal landscape whilst not necessary, will be helpful in onboarding.
• Background in public policy, social science (including sociology, anthropology, political science, human geography), economics will be helpful.

Desireable capabilities

• Knowledge of GIS and basic statistical tools for data analysis is desirable.
• Willingness to travel (conditional upon appropriate travel restrictions being lifted) to regional towns, and partake in extended field work is essential.

Expected qualifications (Course/Degrees etc.)

Prior degree in engineering, economics, and social science is suitable.