The recent IPCC Report highlighted the imperative need to decarbonize our economies and as such nations are rightfully focused on decarbonisation. Coal for power generation along with other fossil fuels - has become the low hanging fruit to reduce carbon emissions. Yet coal remains an essential part of the power generation mix in most parts of the world and is projected to remain so for a significant amount of time. It is also a key part of industrial processes such as steel and cement manufacturing.We need to keep sight of the moral imperatives beyond that of climate change: coal has a role to play in the short to medium future and we need to ensure a just energy transition where developing nations can have access to reliable and affordable energy, where cities can be built using steel, cement and concrete. But for this transition to be just, it needs to be clean. Renewables will be insufficient in the short term which is why technologies such as CCS and HELE have an essential role to play in ensuring that the use of coal is responsible and does not contribute so greatly to the increase in global carbon emissions. CITATION:Howard, A-C, 2019. Why a responsible coal mining supply chain matters in a decarbonizing world, in Proceedings 9th International Conference on Sustainable Development in the Minerals Industry, pp 4547 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).