A Less Rosy Green Energy Transition: How Indigenous Communities Are Being Ignored

Green energy projects pose risks to Indigenous communities, including land grabbing and biodiversity loss. To ensure a just and equitable transition to renewables, climate justice and intersectionality must be central to the process.

by Nathan W. King

Introduction

Given that renewable energy produces far less emissions than fossil fuels, it is widely viewed as playing a central role in climate change mitigation [1]. Deploying renewable energy at a large scale, however, brings its own social and environmental impacts, especially for Indigenous Peoples [2]. At a glance, renewable projects are part of the same exploitative power structures that flourished within a global fossil fuel-based economy. In fact, the term ‘green colonialism’ has been used to examine the effect that these projects have on indigenous communities’ rights [1]. 

This article aims to examine the pitfalls of the green energy transition, focusing on two key issues: land grabbing and biodiversity loss. Renewable projects have far-reaching consequences, albeit fewer emissions than fossil fuel projects, including the local impacts to water, soil, and biodiversity where the minerals were extracted and impacts at the site of installation. Impacts at the site of extraction include fossil fuel emissions and biodiversity loss, risking simply replacing one problem with additional dimensions of environmental degradation.

To prevent land grabbing and biodiversity loss, climate justice and intersectionality need to be mainstreamed in climate action. Climate justice emphasizes the equitable distribution of both the benefits and burdens of climate action, ensuring that vulnerable communities are not disproportionately affected. Intersectionality provides a framework for understanding how various forms of oppression—such as those based on race, class, and geographic location—intersect and compound to create unique challenges for Indigenous Peoples.

Land Grabbing for Green Energy

Under the guise of making use of ‘empty spaces’, Indigenous lands are targets for energy projects that are extractive, damaging soil, water, and air quality [3]. The negative impacts to the biodiversity of Indigenous lands, highlight the need for integrating climate justice and intersectionality into green energy planning.

Moreover, ‘green’ land grabbing is land acquisition that occurs when institutional, business, and government interests prioritize renewable energy infrastructure over Indigenous land rights [1, 3]. These types of land grabs (e.g. for solar or wind projects or for mining transition metals like cobalt) can disrupt traditional land use and contribute to habitat fragmentation, which can have cascading effects on surrounding ecosystems. 

For example, Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Australia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo are all countries with rapid increases in mining activities, largely driven by the global scramble for transition minerals and metals for batteries and other green technologies. [1]. However, in this process, Indigenous lands are increasingly appropriated, a process which is argued by some to  mirror petroleum extraction as it displaces communities and degrades the environment [1].

In some cases, conservation and  national parks can also drive land grabbing as Indigenous communities are forcibly excluded from managing their traditional lands, often in favour of the state or private actors. This exclusion can undermine the health of ecosystems, which Indigenous Peoples have historically maintained through sustainable practices [4]. 

Biodiversity Loss

Protecting Indigenous rights is crucial for maintaining global biodiversity. Land under Indigenous stewardship accounts for 24% of the Earth’s surface and 80% of its remaining biodiversity [5, 6]. Exploiting Indigenous lands for green energy projects poses a significant threat to this biodiversity. For instance, large-scale wind farms and solar arrays can lead to habitat destruction and land fragmentation [1]. Land is drastically altered to develop biofuel plantations as a renewable energy source, resulting in drastic declines in local wildlife [2]. 

Conclusion

The green energy transition presents both opportunities and challenges. While renewable energy is essential for reducing CO₂ emissions and addressing the climate crisis, it also poses an existential threat to Indigenous communities through land grabbing and biodiversity loss. 

To avoid perpetuating these colonial-like cycles of exploitation and marginaisation, a framework of intersectionality and climate justice needs to be more widely embraced and adopted. This means not only addressing the environmental impacts of green energy projects but also recognizing and respecting Indigenous rights and traditional knowledge. Greater transparency and accountability in the renewable energy industry is necessary to prevent the continuation of harmful practices that exacerbate environmental and social injustices [4].

By adopting a framework of climate justice and intersectionality, policymakers and climate activists can ensure that the transition to renewable energy does not come at the expense of Indigenous rights and the health of the planet.  

References:

[1] ‘Green colonialism’: Indigenous World Leaders Warn Over West’s Climate Strategy, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/apr/23/un-indigenous-peoples-forum-climate-strategy-warning, accessed 3/6/2024.
[2] Cepek, M., 2012. A future for Amazonia: Randy Borman and Cofán environmental politics. University of Texas Press.
[3] Reconciling the Green Energy Transition with the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, https://www.rural21.com/english/current-issue/detail/article/reconciling-the-green-energy-transition-with-the-rights-of-indigenous-peoples.html, accessed 3/6/2024.
[4] ENABLING A JUST TRANSITION: PROTECTING HUMAN RIGHTS IN RENEWABLE ENERGY PROJECTS, https://ccsi.columbia.edu/sites/default/files/content/docs/publications/final_RenewablesAndHumanRights%20%28Brief%29.pdf, accessed 7/6/2024.
[5] Navigating Land Rights in the Transition to Green Energy, https://www.usip.org/publications/2021/10/navigating-land-rights-transition-green-energy, accessed 6/6/2024.
[6] Energy Transition Must Not Reproduce Injustices to Indigenous Peoples, https://sdg.iisd.org/news/energy-transition-must-not-reproduce-injustices-to-indigenous-peoples-pfii-note/, accessed 6/6/2024.