India has scientifically closed 42 coal mines so far—33 in the past year—and is now targeting 147 more over the next 2 to 3 years, Coal Minister G. Kishan Reddy announced at the launch of AAROH: Annual Report on Mine Closure, the government’s first mine-closure report. Scientific mine closure means systematically restoring a mine to a safe, environmentally sustainable and economically productive condition. The government also signed an implementation agreement on mine closure with Germany’s Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ). The effort is backed by government funding of USD 5 billion, with 25% of the closure spending now earmarked for community development.

Spain’s government says it awarded EUR 1.98 billion to former coal-mining regions between 2019 and 2025. This includes EUR 1.18 billion through energy diversification projects. The government is expecting the business projects supported by the funding to create 2,298 jobs, led by Asturias and Aragón. Trade union confederations, including Unions Comisiones Obreras (Workers’ Commissions) and Unión General de Trabajadores, welcomed the figures but warned that while most of the environmental restoration will be completed in 2026, many of the business projects are still non-operational. The confederations also demanded that the 2027 agreement be extended for 5 years with EUR 250 million more funding.

Malaysia is planning to repurpose retiring coal plant sites—leveraging existing grid links and strategic land—as renewable energy and battery storage hubs under a proposed National Coal Site Repurposing Framework, Deputy Prime Minister Fadillah Yusof said at a World Economic Forum decarbonisation event. Yusof stressed that renewables must outpace coal retirement (targeted for 2044) if Malaysia is to avoid simply shifting dependence onto imported liquefied natural gas, as the country is also aiming for installed renewables capacity of 70% by 2050.

Germany’s Rhenish coal region is on track to install 5 GW of renewable-energy capacity by the end of 2026, reaching its Gigawatt Pact target two years early. In Bedburg, the municipality owns 49% of two wind farms on former mining land, with the revenues funding schools and reduced childcare fees. However, the growing role of RWE, pressure on agricultural land, and weak use of community-benefit rules are raising concerns over who controls the transition—and who benefits from it.

Energy company Engie Chile has completed the conversion of its former Tocopilla thermal power complex—which was coal- and fuel oil-fired for over a century before its last unit was retired in 2022—into a 116 MW/660 MWh battery storage system. The USD 270 million project comprises 240 lithium-ion battery containers and 30 power conversion systems connected directly to the transmission grid. It entered commercial operation on 19 February 2026 and is expected to supply 211 GWh annually—equivalent to powering about 89,900 Chilean households.

Colombia’s government has issued its first comprehensive framework that makes mine closure a mandatory phase across environmental, labour, social, technical, and financial dimensions. Titled Decree 0742 of 2026, the rules require labour transition plans, union consultation, and retraining. They also point closed sites towards ecological restoration, renewable energy, or community infrastructure. Labour Minister Antonio Sanguino called it the first mine-closure regulation to explicitly protect worker rights, framing it as central to Colombia’s just energy transition rather than an afterthought.

Western Australia says almost AUD 700 million in transition funding hasn’t been enough to re-employ Collie’s 1,300 coal workers before mines and power stations close in 2030, with only about 140 ongoing jobs created so far. Proposed replacement industries—Generation Steel’s green steel, International Graphite’s processing plant, and a Magnium magnesium refinery—have yet to reach final investment decisions, prompting the state to call on the federal AUD 15 billion National Reconstruction Fund as unions rallied and Premier Coal cut 70–100 jobs.

None of the 412 coal mines that closed in South Africa between 2006 and 2023 set aside sufficient funds for land and water rehabilitation, a new report has found. Weak enforcement lets companies abandon mines—sometimes leaving guarantees as low as USD 36,720 against clean-up costs exceeding USD 28 million—creating contaminated, radioactive ghost towns that communities have to put up with and taxpayers ultimately shoulder the costs of. The report calls for stricter closure certification and for rehabilitation plans that are tied to worker and community transition support.

A court in Türkiye has revoked the environmental permit for a 688-MW expansion of the Afşin-Elbistan coal plant, following a case brought by Greenpeace Türkiye and local communities. This pushes the country’s coal project cancellation rate to 97%. Türkiye still lacks a national phase-out plan, however: coal generates nearly one third of the country’s electricity from an ageing 20.5-GW fleet with no retirement dates, and a separate 1,050-MW expansion was announced in June—just months before Türkiye co-hosts COP 31.

The African Development Bank (AfDB) has approved a loan of USD 400 million for the Mpumalanga Municipal Utility Reform Programme, which aims to tackle water and electricity losses, weak revenue collection, and damaged infrastructure in South Africa’s coal heartland province. The financing is backed by a UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office guarantee under the Just Energy Transition Partnership, which will also fund technical assistance. The goal is to provide more reliable services for the communities that are most exposed to the coal transition, with AfDB officials framing it as a model for municipal reform elsewhere.

Polish coal miners are retraining for wind sector jobs through a 3-week programme funded by EDF Power Solutions Poland. Around 50 miners have participated over 3 years, all receiving job offers after training in turbine maintenance and safety. Poland’s mining workforce has fallen from nearly 400,000 to 70,000, while the government expects the energy transition to create around 300,000 jobs by 2030. Participants report higher pay and safer conditions, though assignments can require extended travel.

The South Korean city of Boryeong has launched a 100-day reform drive in the face of economic decline (following the closure of two coal-fired power units) and continued population loss. A further unit’s closure has been pushed back from June 2026 to March 2027 amid uncertainty about the energy supply. Mayor Eom Seung-yong outlined four priorities: artificial intelligence (AI)-driven municipal administration, stronger emergency healthcare, local talent development, and growing the “living population” of visitors and temporary residents.

Women energy experts warn that just transition principles “can’t be retrofitted” onto Pax Silica, the U.S.-led initiative expected to draw major investment in critical minerals, semiconductors, artificial intelligence (AI), and energy infrastructure in the Philippines. They caution that the electricity demand from data centres could lock in new fossil fuel use, put strain on water and land, and raise household energy costs if clean energy build-out doesn’t keep pace. The proposed safeguards include renewable-energy requirements, reskilling for workers, protection for Indigenous land, and community participation––before project terms are set, not after.

South Korea’s Korea Western Power, its labour union, and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners have agreed to develop offshore-wind training for coal power workers, supporting their move into roles linked to 1.4 GW of planned offshore wind projects around Taean. Korea Western Power will adjust work schedules and cover training costs, while all three parties will jointly secure and operate training facilities, which they plan to link with government workforce programmes.

Spain’s Supreme Court upheld the government’s power to set exceptional conditions—including a millionaire bank guarantee requirement—for awarding grid capacity freed by closing coal and nuclear plants. Rejecting a challenge from bidder Abarca Seguros, the ruling confirms that these “just transition nodes,” such as the 1,200 MW freed by Andorra’s (Teruel) coal plant and awarded to Endesa in 2022, sit outside standard public-contract law, reinforcing the government’s tool for steering renewables towards affected territories’ economic reactivation.

EU ministers gave final approval to extend the Research Fund for Coal and Steel to 2034, with investment of up to EUR 120 million a year and roughly EUR 800 million in total. The fund backs research and a “green and just transition” in coal-mining regions, and new rules align funding rates with Horizon Europe: industry can now receive up to 70% EU funding, while small and medium enterprises, startups, and academic institutions can receive up to 100%.

Widespread blackouts across Java and Sumatra have exposed deep vulnerabilities in Indonesia’s coal-dependent power system, reigniting the debate over the pace and shape of its energy transition. Analysts have argued that the outages show that transition means replacing ageing fossil fuel infrastructure while building grid resilience, not just adding renewables; researchers have estimated the outage-related losses to be in the trillions of rupiah. Civil society groups have countered that swapping coal for renewables alone won’t ensure a just transition if new projects merely relocate environmental burdens.

With youth unemployment at 45.6% and South Africa’s just energy transition requiring an estimated ZAR 1.5 trillion in financing, this article argues that young people are framed mainly as a vulnerable group that needs to be protected from transition costs, not as active participants who could drive it. Existing plans allocate skills funding and job targets but lack enforceable mechanisms—youth quotas, procurement set-asides, and ownership requirements—to ensure that participation translates into actual capital access and enterprise ownership, not just training.