A Just transition is one of the dominant themes at the ongoing climate COP in Belém, Brazil — the 30th such meeting, marking a whole generation that has come of age since the Brundtland Commission first called for “our common future”. Those who were young then are now the decision-makers shaping the global response to climate change. Nowhere does this generational reckoning resonate more deeply than in the Global South, where nations face the dual challenge of accelerating the shift away from fossil fuel-based energy systems while safeguarding energy security amid worsening climate impacts.

The challenge is acute in India’s coal-dependent regions — Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, and Odisha. Young people risk inheriting the environmental burdens of extraction while facing uncerta

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