West Bengal government’s flagship initiative, Deucha Pachami coal block project in Birbhum district, will now have no hindrance from the Centre in terms of ‘Just Transition’ policy. This has become apparent from the government of India’s interpretation of the principle of Just Transition, given at the UN Climate Summit, COP-29, currently being held at Azerbaijan capital Baku.
Just Transition is the safeguard mechanism for the coal workers in phasing out of fossil fuel, especially coal in case of India, which came into focus in COP-21 held in Paris in 2015. India, in the current COP-29, has been very critical of the developed nations for making the developing countries pay the price of unabated carbon emission done by the developed nations in the past. India also denied immediate inclusion of Just Transition in their forthcoming Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) and National Action Plan (NAP) on climate change.
Deucha Pachami is the second largest coal block in the world and the largest in Asia, having an estimated 2102 million tonnes of coal reserve. The West Bengal government is very keen to develop this as a part of its ongoing effort of industrialisation initiative. It expects to attract foreign collaboration. However, this stand of the central government on Just Transition will definitely bring relief to the state govt. towards furthering the project after meeting other compliances.
India has now put forward its interpretation of the Just Transition concept asking for climate justice. India reiterated the COP-27 decision taken in Sharm El Sheikh, which said that the Just Transition framework is not narrow and linked to the wider economic and social aspects.
India urged COP-29 to have a clear discussion on carbon debt that is owed by developed countries to the developing countries for overusing their carbon budget, stating that monetisation of this carbon debt would be in trillion. Highlighting this inequality in the entire climate discourse, India categorically said, “Choices of people in developed countries being sacrosanct versus the cost imposed on the citizens of the developing countries due to transition”. India also called for giving greater share of the carbon space to the developing countries and demanded that the cost for undertaking Just and Green Transition should be borne by developing countries.