LOCATION/TYPE

NEWS HOME

[ exact phrase in "" • results by date ]

[ Google-powered • results by relevance ]


Archive
RSS

Add NWW headlines to your site (click here)

Get weekly updates

WHAT TO DO
when your community is targeted

RSS

RSS feeds and more

Keep Wind Watch online and independent!

Donate via Paypal

Donate via Stripe

Selected Documents

All Documents

Research Links

Alerts

Press Releases

FAQs

Campaign Material

Photos & Graphics

Videos

Allied Groups

Wind Watch is a registered educational charity, founded in 2005.

News Watch Home

As land conflicts rise, clean energy investors face financial risks 

Credit:  By Laurie Goering | Thomson Reuters Foundation | April 26, 2017 | www.reuters.com ~~

Growing investment in renewable energy projects around the world is sparking more conflicts over land and resources in areas where they are built – a worry investors need to keep in mind, finance and human rights groups said Wednesday.

Last year, a planned $150 million Kenyan wind park was cancelled after protests and land disputes, according to a report by the London-based Business & Human Rights Resource Centre and two investor group partners.

Another wind farm in the Mexican state of Oaxaca, similarly, has been stalled for years after a dispute over access by local people to project land.

Such conflicts, which are on the rise as countries rush to meet clean energy goals under the Paris Agreement on climate change, can result in losses for investors – and slowdowns in getting renewable energy online – unless investors take care to ensure communities and local rights are protected, the report said.

“We see a very strong need for renewable energy to tackle climate change, but we want to make sure that the renewable energy sector and investors don’t make the same mistakes as past energy (investors)” in things like coal and oil, said Eniko Horvath, a senior research with the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre.

“We are increasingly seeing more and more allegations against wind and hydropower companies in particular,” she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation in a telephone interview.

“That’s why we decided … to raise awareness about it and make sure renewable energy investment goes ahead but in a way that respects human rights.”

Currently only five of 50 wind and hydropower companies surveyed around the world appear to have a clear focus on respecting the rights of indigenous people and ensuring their projects have been given what is known as “free, prior and informed consent” by local people, said Phil Bloomer, the centre’s executive director.

That’s a concern as investment in renewable energy projects jumps, from $62 billion in 2004 to $287 billion last year, the report said.

Money is expected to continue to pour into renewables as investors look for attractive returns in a market with relatively few other attractive options, it said.

About 65 percent of the world’s land area is held by local communities and indigenous people under customary law systems, the report noted – but only 18 percent of it is formally recognised by governments, a gap that could lead to conflicts or displacement as energy projects set up.

Since 2005, the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre has received 115 reports of harm to local communities as a result of renewable projects, mainly as a result of land disputes but also violence and killings, it said.

Horvath said some investors are becoming aware of the potential risks – including high legal costs and damage to reputation – when clean energy projects are slowed or cancelled as a result of protests. But they remain a minority, she said.

“We’re definitely seeing some movement among investors but it’s definitely still a small group who are taking action,” she said. “It’s great they’re focusing on climate change and renewable energy – but they need to be aware of the risks.”

(Reporting by Laurie Goering; editing by Ros Russell. The Thomson Reuters Foundation is the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters that covers humanitarian news, climate change, resilience, women’s rights, trafficking and property rights.)

Source:  By Laurie Goering | Thomson Reuters Foundation | April 26, 2017 | www.reuters.com

This article is the work of the source indicated. Any opinions expressed in it are not necessarily those of National Wind Watch.

The copyright of this article resides with the author or publisher indicated. As part of its noncommercial educational effort to present the environmental, social, scientific, and economic issues of large-scale wind power development to a global audience seeking such information, National Wind Watch endeavors to observe “fair use” as provided for in section 107 of U.S. Copyright Law and similar “fair dealing” provisions of the copyright laws of other nations. Send requests to excerpt, general inquiries, and comments via e-mail.

Wind Watch relies entirely
on User Funding
   Donate via Paypal
(via Paypal)
Donate via Stripe
(via Stripe)

Share:

e-mail X FB LI TG TG Share


News Watch Home

Get the Facts
CONTACT DONATE PRIVACY ABOUT SEARCH
© National Wind Watch, Inc.
Use of copyrighted material adheres to Fair Use.
"Wind Watch" is a registered trademark.

 Follow:

Wind Watch on X Wind Watch on Facebook

Wind Watch on Linked In Wind Watch on Mastodon