As countries move away from coal and other fossil fuel, this Expert Exchange, organised by Climate Action Network International (CAN I) under the Innovation Regions for a Just Energy Transition (IKI JET) project, examined how ecosystem restoration can become a core pillar of just energy transition strategies, rather than an afterthought. Speakers from Spain, Australia, Chile, and global civil society explored how restoring damaged landscapes can support local livelihoods, biodiversity, climate resilience, and social justice in regions shaped by coal mining and coal-fired power generation.

The discussion emphasised that ecosystem integrity is a precondition for a truly just transition. The panelists showed that post-coal landscapes can be transformed into safe, productive, and socially meaningful spaces—if restoration is adequately planned, financed, and governed, and if workers and communities are involved from the start.

Research insights

Francisco Tovar Rodríguez of the Just Transition Institute (Instituto para la Transición Justa [ITJ]) outlined how in Spain, ecosystem restoration is embedded into a comprehensive territorial just transition policy. Two main lines of work support former coal-mining areas: (a) funding exceptional closure costs in open-pit and underground mines (safety works, repairing mining damage, rehabilitating former mining areas, and bringing land back into cultivation); and (b) EU Next Generation–financed support for regional governments that have become responsible for restoration by default after companies have been declared bankrupt.

These lines of work aim to ensure that mines are closed safely; generate short-term jobs that prioritise ex-miners; restore landscapes and hydrological networks; and lay the foundations for diversified rural activities, such as forestry, livestock, recreation, and environmental education. The flagship Gran Corta Fabero project illustrates that a vast open-pit mine can be reshaped by bringing water and vegetation back to the landscape to deliver safety, restore biodiversity, and provide grazing, recreation, and research opportunities. This work was complemented by early retirement schemes, training, and anti-depopulation measures.

Referencing Australia’s Latrobe Valley, Jenny Brereton of the Mine Land Rehabilitation Authority (MLRA)—an independent statutory authority working with community, industry, Traditional Owners, and government, and the only specialised body of its kind—framed mine rehabilitation as a “wicked problem” characterised by technical uncertainty, long time frames, and escalating climate risks.

The MLRA’s experience highlights that rehabilitation is not just an engineering task but also a governance and social process: landforms are permanently altered; risks range from fire and flooding to geotechnical instability and water quality; and today’s decisions must ensure the safety of future generations. It is therefore essential to have strong regulations; site-specific solutions; robust risk assessment; and adaptive, long-term monitoring—co-designed with local stakeholders.

Gonzalo Melej from the citizen environmental organisation Sustainable Chile (Chile Sustentable), drew on a case from Tocopilla to demonstrate what happens when coal mine closures are not matched with socio-environmental remediation. Six plants have closed and emissions have fallen, yet major liabilities remain due to power plants that pre-date modern environmental assessment and closure rules; weak environmental and sectoral oversight; non-binding participatory processes; and the absence of closure and remediation plans from companies or a comprehensive state-led remediation agenda. This leaves communities exposed to continued health and environmental risks. A 2025 just transition strategy for coal-affected municipalities includes remediation on paper—a potential step forwards—but still lacks earmarked funding and visible implementation.

Drawing on these cases, Catalina Gonda of CAN’s Ecosystems Working Group stressed why ecosystem integrity must be a guiding principle of just transitions. Healthy ecosystems are more resilient to external shocks; can provide essential services and wellbeing; and can underpin new, decent jobs in restoration and long-term monitoring. Restoring ecosystems can alleviate health and social problems linked to pollution and protect communities from climate impacts—but only if planning and financing start well before closure and if workers and communities are meaningfully involved in shaping the process.

Moderator Anabella Rosemberg (CAN I) wove together the threads of the interventions around the idea of “healing wounds” in territories scarred by coal, arguing that ecosystem repair must be moved to the centre of just transition debates. She stressed that practice-sharing is crucial: otherwise, governments risk “starting from zero” and reinventing solutions in isolation. She underscored the need for spaces where people working on just transition processes can exchange experiences, stressing that within the ongoing debates at the COP, there are opportunities to create spaces for this kind of practice-sharing on just transition through a Belem Action Mechanism (BAM).

Key takeaways

• Ecosystem restoration is a core pillar of a just energy transition, supporting health, safety, livelihoods, biodiversity, and climate resilience in coal regions.
• Spain’s ITJ project shows how public policy can integrate environmental restoration with social protection for workers, gender-responsive measures, and anti-depopulation strategies, using tools such as exceptional closure cost support and EU-funded regional projects.
• Australia’s MLRA experience highlights that rehabilitating mines is technically complex and takes a long time, requiring strong regulations, adaptive governance, continuous monitoring, and meaningful participation of communities and Traditional Owners.
• The case of Tocopilla in Chile illustrates the risks of phasing out coal without introducing binding remediation obligations, effective oversight, or dedicated finance—leaving communities with persistent pollution and socio-environmental burdens.
• Ecosystem integrity must guide transition planning from the outset, with restoration and repurposing strategies co-designed by affected workers and communities. Those strategies must be firmly embedded into just transition finance and governance frameworks.

Speakers

Francisco Tovar Rodríguez, Instituto para la Transición Justa (ITJ) (Spain)
Jenny Brereton, Mine Land Rehabilitation Authority (MLRA) (Australia)
Gonzalo Melej, Chile Sustentable (Chile)
Catalina Gonda, Griffith University, CAN-Ecosystems

Moderated by Anabella Rosemberg, Climate Action Network International

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