Renewable energies and human rights
Mar 5, 2024 22:56:19 GMT -8
Post by account_disabled on Mar 5, 2024 22:56:19 GMT -8
Renewable energies imply a dilemma, since on the one hand they mean a lower environmental impact than conventional energies, but on the other they can lead to violations of the human rights of the communities where these new technologies reach.
According to INEGI data, the states that provide the greatest amount of renewable energy are Chiapas, with 40% of Mexico's hydroelectric energy, and Oaxaca, with 70% of wind energy, the same locations that, in turn, present the highest index. poverty in the country: 77% and 70%, respectively.
This shows an imbalance between energy wealth and deep poverty, without leaving aside that the basic rights of these communities have been irremediably affected, according to specialists.
The ideal that should be aimed at when talking Chile Mobile Number List about clean and renewable energies, they considered, is that they can be generated, distributed and easily accessed, but above all, that the human rights of the residents who inhabit the locations of these are respected and benefited. Projects.
The communities should benefit the most, however, they are the most affected because there is an evident lack of transparency, participation by locals, conflicts with opponents, violations of people's rights and exploitation of the land, they warned.
"When generating this type of projects, other negative impacts on the environment or the socio-environmental conflicts that are generated are not being evaluated; they are also linked to the lack of transparency, lack of access to information, lack of local participation and ignorance of the ownership and traditional use of the land,” indicated Fernanda Hopenhaym, co-executive director of the Project on Organization, Development, Education and Research (Poder).
As part of the webinar series Communities and Renewable Energy: dialogues and contributions to the Just Energy Transition in Mexico, he assured that the main problem is that those who implement consultations in energy projects are generally judge and party and there is no real participation of the inhabitants .
“Those who implement the consultation, in this case the Ministry of Energy, have the role of promoting investment and providing facilities for these industries to arrive in the country, so it is very difficult for them to have a neutral position, no matter how well-intentioned they are. ”, he assured.
Isthmus of Tehuantepec, wind paradise
The extraordinary geography of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, located between the Pacific and the Gulf of Mexico, gives this region the strongest and most stable winds in Mexico and, therefore, since 2006 it has become a wind farm paradise for many multinational companies. .
Guadalupe Ramírez, a member of the Unión Hidalgo community, mentioned that that year the company Desarrollos Eólicos Mexicanos (Demex) came to rent their lands, and in 2009 they signed a 30-year contract.
“They visited house by house all the lands that were in the industrial estate, with lies and promises they convinced the residents and made them sign a lease contract that no one understood, because they did not have enough information,” said Ramírez Castellanos during the webinar. international “Impacts of the energy transition: A view from comprehensive defense”, event organized by the Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Project (Prodesc).
In 2017, the Electricity of France (EDF) company promoted a second park, but in 2012, before carrying out a consultation, it had already obtained a permit from the Ministry of Energy (Sener) to start this project.
In April 2018, this consultation was sued for having been carried out in inadequate conditions, so in October of the same year it was suspended, affecting the construction of the second wind farm.
With this, Sener was ordered to plan a prior, free and informed consultation; However, in November 2018 it was resumed with the same irregularities.
“We are not against renewable energy, we are against the way these consultations are carried out, our community does not have enough information. He doesn't know what a consultation is, nor what a protocol is. So we cannot give consent,” explained the Human Rights defender.
This is just an example of the problems that come with the arrival of energy companies in the country. Currently in this region there are 28 wind farms with around 1,500 turbines and in all the processes “there is a part that is not heard, the humble part.” , said.
Demex is one of the companies that sought protection against the Cenace and Sener Agreement and Policy, and on July 13 it obtained two definitive suspensions so the Agreement and Policy cannot be applied to it until the conclusion of the trial.
What is the challenge for the just energy transition?
Not only is an energy transition necessary, but also rethinking an economic model where the rights of minorities are rights that are respected and ensured during the processes.
One of the main urgent actions for this transition is to democratize access to energy, since “for years the energy that has been generated is for private clients and cheaper or free energy was not really being given to local territories, who were being exploited for the generation of these energies,” explained Hopenhaym.
Among the companies that were the main clients of these wind farms, the specialist referred to FEMSA.
“The concern is that today compliance with human rights is accessed through judicial and legal processes, and not really proposed proactively by authorities and companies, prior to the installation of each project,” he stated.
Rafael Fonseca Chávez, Sustainable Development Program officer at the Civic Collaboration Center (CCC), agreed that it is vital to build a new relationship that addresses the projects and the needs of the communities where they are carried out.
“Participation must be a new relationship of co-responsibility between the actors involved, which will contribute to the prevention of social conflicts, empowerment, management of the territory and creation of value for all sectors,” he explained.
This is where the Guidelines for the Development of Participatory, Inclusive and Transparent Renewable Energy Projects are born, recommendations that, although they do not constitute an obligation, do complement the current measures in favor of the populations and their communities.
These ensure that the communities must be present in the planning of the project: promoting participatory and inclusive development, a permanent and active interaction, “where the population has the right to say no, but, if they say yes, they also have the right to decide what is allowed and what is not,” Fonseca Chávez instructed.
These recommendations aimed at the government, developers and local communities are divided into five pillars proposed by the Civic Collaboration Center and are:
Information and transparency
Inclusion and empowerment
Dialogue and deliberation
Freedom and security
Influence on decision making
He mentioned that these conditions are necessary to have genuine, irreducible and applicable participation in any type of process and necessary to have a fair energy transition.
“The management of resources must be defined by the people who inhabit the territory, through processes that guarantee the equitable involvement of all sectors of society,” he concluded.
According to INEGI data, the states that provide the greatest amount of renewable energy are Chiapas, with 40% of Mexico's hydroelectric energy, and Oaxaca, with 70% of wind energy, the same locations that, in turn, present the highest index. poverty in the country: 77% and 70%, respectively.
This shows an imbalance between energy wealth and deep poverty, without leaving aside that the basic rights of these communities have been irremediably affected, according to specialists.
The ideal that should be aimed at when talking Chile Mobile Number List about clean and renewable energies, they considered, is that they can be generated, distributed and easily accessed, but above all, that the human rights of the residents who inhabit the locations of these are respected and benefited. Projects.
The communities should benefit the most, however, they are the most affected because there is an evident lack of transparency, participation by locals, conflicts with opponents, violations of people's rights and exploitation of the land, they warned.
"When generating this type of projects, other negative impacts on the environment or the socio-environmental conflicts that are generated are not being evaluated; they are also linked to the lack of transparency, lack of access to information, lack of local participation and ignorance of the ownership and traditional use of the land,” indicated Fernanda Hopenhaym, co-executive director of the Project on Organization, Development, Education and Research (Poder).
As part of the webinar series Communities and Renewable Energy: dialogues and contributions to the Just Energy Transition in Mexico, he assured that the main problem is that those who implement consultations in energy projects are generally judge and party and there is no real participation of the inhabitants .
“Those who implement the consultation, in this case the Ministry of Energy, have the role of promoting investment and providing facilities for these industries to arrive in the country, so it is very difficult for them to have a neutral position, no matter how well-intentioned they are. ”, he assured.
Isthmus of Tehuantepec, wind paradise
The extraordinary geography of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, located between the Pacific and the Gulf of Mexico, gives this region the strongest and most stable winds in Mexico and, therefore, since 2006 it has become a wind farm paradise for many multinational companies. .
Guadalupe Ramírez, a member of the Unión Hidalgo community, mentioned that that year the company Desarrollos Eólicos Mexicanos (Demex) came to rent their lands, and in 2009 they signed a 30-year contract.
“They visited house by house all the lands that were in the industrial estate, with lies and promises they convinced the residents and made them sign a lease contract that no one understood, because they did not have enough information,” said Ramírez Castellanos during the webinar. international “Impacts of the energy transition: A view from comprehensive defense”, event organized by the Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Project (Prodesc).
In 2017, the Electricity of France (EDF) company promoted a second park, but in 2012, before carrying out a consultation, it had already obtained a permit from the Ministry of Energy (Sener) to start this project.
In April 2018, this consultation was sued for having been carried out in inadequate conditions, so in October of the same year it was suspended, affecting the construction of the second wind farm.
With this, Sener was ordered to plan a prior, free and informed consultation; However, in November 2018 it was resumed with the same irregularities.
“We are not against renewable energy, we are against the way these consultations are carried out, our community does not have enough information. He doesn't know what a consultation is, nor what a protocol is. So we cannot give consent,” explained the Human Rights defender.
This is just an example of the problems that come with the arrival of energy companies in the country. Currently in this region there are 28 wind farms with around 1,500 turbines and in all the processes “there is a part that is not heard, the humble part.” , said.
Demex is one of the companies that sought protection against the Cenace and Sener Agreement and Policy, and on July 13 it obtained two definitive suspensions so the Agreement and Policy cannot be applied to it until the conclusion of the trial.
What is the challenge for the just energy transition?
Not only is an energy transition necessary, but also rethinking an economic model where the rights of minorities are rights that are respected and ensured during the processes.
One of the main urgent actions for this transition is to democratize access to energy, since “for years the energy that has been generated is for private clients and cheaper or free energy was not really being given to local territories, who were being exploited for the generation of these energies,” explained Hopenhaym.
Among the companies that were the main clients of these wind farms, the specialist referred to FEMSA.
“The concern is that today compliance with human rights is accessed through judicial and legal processes, and not really proposed proactively by authorities and companies, prior to the installation of each project,” he stated.
Rafael Fonseca Chávez, Sustainable Development Program officer at the Civic Collaboration Center (CCC), agreed that it is vital to build a new relationship that addresses the projects and the needs of the communities where they are carried out.
“Participation must be a new relationship of co-responsibility between the actors involved, which will contribute to the prevention of social conflicts, empowerment, management of the territory and creation of value for all sectors,” he explained.
This is where the Guidelines for the Development of Participatory, Inclusive and Transparent Renewable Energy Projects are born, recommendations that, although they do not constitute an obligation, do complement the current measures in favor of the populations and their communities.
These ensure that the communities must be present in the planning of the project: promoting participatory and inclusive development, a permanent and active interaction, “where the population has the right to say no, but, if they say yes, they also have the right to decide what is allowed and what is not,” Fonseca Chávez instructed.
These recommendations aimed at the government, developers and local communities are divided into five pillars proposed by the Civic Collaboration Center and are:
Information and transparency
Inclusion and empowerment
Dialogue and deliberation
Freedom and security
Influence on decision making
He mentioned that these conditions are necessary to have genuine, irreducible and applicable participation in any type of process and necessary to have a fair energy transition.
“The management of resources must be defined by the people who inhabit the territory, through processes that guarantee the equitable involvement of all sectors of society,” he concluded.