Temporal injustice in Germany's coal compromise: Industrial legacy, social exclusion, and political delay

Abstract

Researchers, policy-makers, and activists often highlight the temporal dimension of the just energy transition. In this study, we explore the theoretical and empirical connections between justice and the temporality of decarbonization processes, integrating insights from social research on energy transitions and our own interview study. To illustrate how the temporal component becomes an inherent part of deliberative negotiations, we examine the case of the Coal Commission, an advisory body with diverse stakeholders that consulted the Federal Government of Germany in drafting a plan to phase out coal extraction and combustion in 2018/19. Using a conceptual framework that differentiates between implicit and explicit aspects of time in stakeholder negotiations, we identify several temporal injustices in the resulting “coal compromise.” Specifically, we reveal four temporal closures that underpin the compromise and outline the temporal exclusions that shaped it. We conclude that the energy transition is built on an uneven playing field, characterized not only by disparities in power and influence but also by temporal justice.