IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/envirc/v37y2019i2p298-316.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Just transition? Strategic framing and the challenges facing coal dependent communities

Author

Listed:
  • Sally A Weller

Abstract

Policies designed to hasten the closure of high-emissions coal-fired power stations routinely include reference to the need for a ‘just’ transition in affected communities. But the detail of what a just transition might entail is rarely specified. This article examines how policy interventions in Australia in 2012–2013, as part of the Gillard government’s Clean Energy Future package, approached the problem of a just transition in the case of Victoria’s coal dependent Latrobe Valley. It describes how policymakers framed the issue as transition, adopted a regional scaling, and expanded the territorial arena of policy action. A stakeholder-based multilevel governance committee shrouded this top-down decision-making from public scrutiny. These moves made it possible to conjure a narrative of benign transition governed by market processes. The paper explains how these strategic framings sidelined local interests, misrepresented the issues, exacerbated local disempowerment, and enabled the redirection of re-distributional funding to communities that were not directly affected by the impending closure of coal-fired power stations. The perceived injustice of this process exposes the limitations of climate policy-related strategic issue, scale and place framing.

Suggested Citation

  • Sally A Weller, 2019. "Just transition? Strategic framing and the challenges facing coal dependent communities," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 37(2), pages 298-316, March.
  • Handle: RePEc:sae:envirc:v:37:y:2019:i:2:p:298-316
    DOI: 10.1177/2399654418784304
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/2399654418784304
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/2399654418784304?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Guy Baeten & Erik Swyngedouw & Louis Albrechts, 1999. "Politics, Institutions and Regional Restructuring Processes: From Managed Growth to Planned Fragmentation in the Reconversion of Belgium's Last Coal Mining Region," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 33(3), pages 247-258.
    2. Art Dewulf, 2013. "Contrasting frames in policy debates on climate change adaptation," Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 4(4), pages 321-330, July.
    3. Unruh, Gregory C., 2000. "Understanding carbon lock-in," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 28(12), pages 817-830, October.
    4. Sally Weller, 2012. "The Regional Dimensions of the 'Transition to a Low-carbon Economy' The Case of Australia's Latrobe Valley," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 46(9), pages 1261-1272, October.
    5. Matthias Bernt, 2009. "Partnerships for Demolition: The Governance of Urban Renewal in East Germany's Shrinking Cities," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(3), pages 754-769, September.
    6. Garnaut,Ross, 2008. "The Garnaut Climate Change Review," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521744447, October.
    7. Madeleine Pape & Peter Fairbrother & Darryn Snell, 2016. "Beyond the State: Shaping Governance and Development Policy in an Australian Region," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 50(5), pages 909-921, May.
    8. Sally Weller, 2017. "Fast Parallels? Contesting Mobile Policy Technologies," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(5), pages 821-837, September.
    9. Neil Brenner, 2000. "The Urban Question: Reflections on Henri Lefebvre, Urban Theory and the Politics of scale," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(2), pages 361-378, June.
    10. Brian W. Head, 2011. "Governance for sustainable regions: can government meet the innovation policy challenge?," Regional Science Policy & Practice, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 3(3), pages 219-230, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Colvin, R.M. & Przybyszewski, E., 2022. "Local residents' policy preferences in an energy contested region – The Upper Hunter, Australia," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 162(C).
    2. Lo, Kevin, 2021. "Authoritarian environmentalism, just transition, and the tension between environmental protection and social justice in China's forestry reform," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 131(C).
    3. Sebastian Țoc & Filip Mihai Alexandrescu, 2022. "Post-Coal Fantasies: An Actor-Network Theory-Inspired Critique of Post-Coal Development Strategies in the Jiu Valley, Romania," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(7), pages 1-17, July.
    4. Antonio Javier Prado-Domínguez & Fernando González-Laxe & Manuel Escourido-Calvo & Federico Martín-Bermúdez, 2021. "Initial Impact and Socioeconomic Compensation for the Closure of a Coal-Fired Power Plant in a Local Entity," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(13), pages 1-17, July.
    5. Tom Barnes, 2024. "Rethinking job loss in an age of assetisation: Lessons from the study of precarious older workers," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 56(3), pages 717-735, May.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Sally Weller, 2017. "Fast Parallels? Contesting Mobile Policy Technologies," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(5), pages 821-837, September.
    2. Foxon, T. J. & Gross, R. & Chase, A. & Howes, J. & Arnall, A. & Anderson, D., 2005. "UK innovation systems for new and renewable energy technologies: drivers, barriers and systems failures," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 33(16), pages 2123-2137, November.
    3. Piotr Lis & Zuzanna Rataj & Katarzyna Suszyńska, 2022. "Implementation Risk Factors of Collaborative Housing in Poland: The Case of ‘Nowe Żerniki’ in Wrocław," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-12, February.
    4. Calvin King Lam Chung & Jiang Xu, 2016. "Scale as both material and discursive: A view through China’s rescaling of urban planning system for environmental governance," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 34(8), pages 1404-1424, December.
    5. Kym Anderson & Signe Nelgen & Ernesto Valenzuela & Glyn Wittwer, 2009. "Economic contributions and characteristics of grapes and wine in AustraliaÂ’s wine regions," Centre for International Economic Studies Working Papers 2009-01, University of Adelaide, Centre for International Economic Studies.
    6. John Foster & Liam Wagner & Phil Wild & Junhua Zhao & Lucas Skoofa & Craig Froome, 2011. "Market and Economic Modelling of the Intelligent Grid: End of Year Report 2009," Energy Economics and Management Group Working Papers 09, School of Economics, University of Queensland, Australia.
    7. Natalie Slawinski & Jonatan Pinkse & Timo Busch & Subhabrata Bobby Banerjeed, 2014. "The role of short-termism and uncertainty in organizational inaction on climate change: multilevel framework," Working Papers hal-00961226, HAL.
    8. Cai, Yiyong & Newth, David & Finnigan, John & Gunasekera, Don, 2015. "A hybrid energy-economy model for global integrated assessment of climate change, carbon mitigation and energy transformation," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 148(C), pages 381-395.
    9. Kaidonis, Mary & Moerman, Lee & Rudkin, Kathy, 2009. "Paradigm, paradox, paralysis: An epistemic process," Accounting forum, Elsevier, vol. 33(4), pages 285-289.
    10. Johannes Urpelainen, 2012. "How do electoral competition and special interests shape the stringency of renewable energy standards?," Environmental Economics and Policy Studies, Springer;Society for Environmental Economics and Policy Studies - SEEPS, vol. 14(1), pages 23-34, January.
    11. Nigel Martin & John Rice, 2010. "Analysing emission intensive firms as regulatory stakeholders: a role for adaptable business strategy," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 19(1), pages 64-75, January.
    12. Francesco Lamperti & Giovanni Dosi & Mauro Napoletano & Andrea Roventini & Alessandro Sapio, 2018. "And then he wasn't a she : Climate change and green transitions in an agent-based integrated assessment model," Working Papers hal-03443464, HAL.
    13. Sheng, Yu & Xu, Xinpeng, 2019. "The productivity impact of climate change: Evidence from Australia's Millennium drought," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 182-191.
    14. Wenshi Yang & Fan Chen & Qianqian Wei & Zhenwei Peng, 2024. "Relationships between Resident Activities and Physical Space in Shrinking Cities in China—The Case of Chaoyang City," Land, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-18, April.
    15. Curci, Ylenia & Mongeau Ospina, Christian A., 2016. "Investigating biofuels through network analysis," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 60-72.
    16. Bessi, Alessandro & Guidolin, Mariangela & Manfredi, Piero, 2021. "The role of gas on future perspectives of renewable energy diffusion: Bridging technology or lock-in?," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 152(C).
    17. Zhang, Hui & Cao, Libin & Zhang, Bing, 2017. "Emissions trading and technology adoption: An adaptive agent-based analysis of thermal power plants in China," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 121(C), pages 23-32.
    18. Hongbo Duan & Gupeng Zhang & Shouyang Wang & Ying Fan, 2018. "Balancing China’s climate damage risk against emission control costs," Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, Springer, vol. 23(3), pages 387-403, March.
    19. Hellsmark, Hans & Hansen, Teis, 2020. "A new dawn for (oil) incumbents within the bioeconomy? Trade-offs and lessons for policy," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 145(C).
    20. João Tovar Jalles, 2024. "Financial Crises and Climate Change," Comparative Economic Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Association for Comparative Economic Studies, vol. 66(1), pages 166-190, March.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:envirc:v:37:y:2019:i:2:p:298-316. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.