The political economy of Chile’s coal transition

• The Chilean energy transition is shaped by political economy characterised by precarious labour, social exclusion and environmental injustice. • The state attempts to reconcile the competing interests of capital with demands from labour organisations, local communities and social movements. • International pressures, consistent state energy policy and the rapid development of renewables were key factors in Chile’s coal transition. In debates about just transitions the experience of unjust coal transitions loom large. Case studies often focus on the experience of countries in Europe and North America, comparing and contrasting more laissez-faire and interventionist state strategies aimed at supporting workers in the transition. In this article, we explore the neglected case of Chile: a country that has retired early most of its coal plants as part of national decarbonisation plan and a Climate Change Framework law which aims to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. We use the case study, based on extensive interviews with government, business and civil society actors, to understand the political economy of just transition in Chile. Described by many as a neo-liberal energy transition, we argue it embodies many of the contradictions of such transitions around the understated role of the state, the invisibilisation and socialisation of the social and ecological costs of transition and shallow forms of democratisation through performative patterns of public participation which seek to manage dissent. We suggest the transition reflects the prevailing model of capitalist extractivism in Chile and a series of settlements between the Chilean state, national and foreign capital contested by social resistance to sacrifice zones, helping to inform debates about neo-liberal energy transitions in general and just transitions in particular.