Where current unsustainable practices have caused environmental degradation, it is important to address it as part of a just transition – particularly if it poses ongoing threats to public health, economic activities, and/or ecosystems. The right interventions may also help to revitalize the local economy, such as where mining lands can be safely rehabilitated for other purposes and thus play a positive role in addressing the social and/or economic impacts of transition. (see Module 3.4 for assessment of environmental legacies and repurposing analysis).
For example, the restored land may be used for agriculture, green industrial development, or other economic activities, such as tourism or carbon sequestration. Restoring natural ecosystems is also a worthy goal that can have broader benefits (for example, if by reforesting land, the community can achieve better water quality or greater biodiversity).
Whatever the outcome, the remediation projects themselves can be valuable sources of jobs and can thus help address some of the employment impacts of a transition. Governments have an important role in re-zoning and repermitting of land, where needed, in a way that will support economic diversification.
Remediation strategies should have clear public and environmental health objectives, and may also support economic strategies. There should be clear responsibility for ongoing monitoring and maintenance of any sites where contamination remains.
A key principle to guide strategies for environmental remediation is “polluter pays.” Requiring those who caused the harm to cover the cost of repairing it – to the extent feasible – will minimize the risk that the public will be saddled with the cost instead, which would be an unjust outcome. This may sometimes be difficult, however. For instance, a site may have been abandoned, or the polluter may be long out of business, or those responsible for the damage may be small landholders or informal (or illegal) workers who are highly vulnerable themselves. Even in places where companies are required by law to restore land and waters they have degraded, it is not uncommon for remediation to be slow or never to occur, either because those companies responsible declare bankruptcy, or because of poor enforcement of regulations. Public investment will therefore likely be needed for some cleanups, and the state may retain an ongoing role in site management, at least until new private investors take on ownership if this happens as part of redevelopment (see Module 5.2 for example(s) of approaches to financing environmental remediation).
