{"id":60094697,"date":"2025-08-19T15:23:00","date_gmt":"2025-08-19T14:23:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/?post_type=opinion&#038;p=60094697"},"modified":"2025-08-19T16:24:18","modified_gmt":"2025-08-19T15:24:18","slug":"opinion-its-time-to-centre-justice-in-latin-americas-energy-future","status":"publish","type":"opinion","link":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/justice\/opinion-its-time-to-centre-justice-in-latin-americas-energy-future\/","title":{"rendered":"Opinion: It\u2019s time to centre justice in Latin America\u2019s energy future"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Energy has shaped the evolution of life on Earth, from the photosynthesis of early organisms to the engines of industrial society. Yet, despite its foundational role in shaping planetary systems and human progress, understandings and approaches towards it have long been dominated by engineering and economics. There has been far less focus on the social dimensions of energy, which relate to power, justice and inequality. This situation has begun to change in the past few decades as social issues gain traction both within and outside academia.<br><br>With over 130 countries currently <a href=\"https:\/\/www.there100.org\/sites\/re100\/files\/2024-09\/TimeToTriple%20Around%20the%20World.pdf\">committed<\/a> to tripling their renewable-energy capacity to combat climate change, certain questions are more relevant than ever. Whose voices will shape our common future, whose will be silenced, who will benefit, and who will be burdened?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The low-carbon transition, framed as a global imperative, is expected to unleash profound structural changes in economies and societies. While this may herald a cleaner future, it also risks reproducing or strengthening legacies of injustices from the fossil-fuel era, if systemic issues of injustice embedded in energy systems are not properly reckoned with and addressed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is where energy justice comes in. The burgeoning field of research critically engages with energy systems to understand and interrogate how their benefits and burdens are distributed, and whose voices are heard in decision-making. It also contributes to the development of ways for energy systems to address existing injustices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Within the field of energy justice and the broader context of low-carbon transitions, Latin America stands out as a critical yet frequently overlooked region. The continent offers not only empirical diversity of both \u2013 spanning <a href=\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/business\/brazils-oil-exports-and-exploration-cast-a-shadow-on-its-green-ambitions\/\">fossil fuel extraction<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/energy\/381971-in-ecuador-riverside-communities-feel-impacts-from-hydropower-push\/\">hydropower megaprojects<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/energy\/the-community-led-science-challenging-a-brazilian-hydro-giant\/\">Indigenous resistance movements<\/a> against them \u2013 but also rich epistemological alternatives to dominant Western paradigms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a><\/a>We, as a group of scholars researching the impacts of energy projects in Latin America, sought to fill this gap with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.routledge.com\/Energy-Justice-in-Latin-America-Reflections-Lessons-and-Critiques\/Mejia-Montero\/p\/book\/9781032795324?srsltid=AfmBOop__Sen_qNEkHnPa2q7wddDvFaYT1kpSqGvUSdaEB8_EYLE_uym\">Energy Justice in Latin America: Reflections, Lessons, and Critiques<\/a>. This recently published book, which I edited, explores valuable insights from analysing case studies and contexts through an energy justice perspective.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Thirty scholars across 12 Latin American countries outline cases addressing a wide range of energy technologies and their associated issues, from extractivist states\u2019 dependence on fossil fuels to wind-turbine blade waste. Across 16 chapters, the authors explore the social contestation of low-carbon technologies, critiques of extractivism, debates around autonomy and identity, and the systemic legacies of colonialism. Their contributions offer a timely reflection on the region\u2019s turbulent energy landscape and contribute to a more grounded understanding of how injustice is understood and experienced across the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-cd-article-image aligncenter block--article-image block--article-image--article\" itemscope itemtype=\"http:\/\/schema.org\/ImageObject\"><div class=\"block--article-image__column\"><div class=\"hide-expand block--article-image__image\"><img class=\"lazy\" data-src=\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Presidencia-de-la-Republica-Mexicana-_Flickr_4c8c8574ee_o.jpg\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Presidencia-de-la-Republica-Mexicana-_Flickr_4c8c8574ee_o-768x513.jpg 768w, https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Presidencia-de-la-Republica-Mexicana-_Flickr_4c8c8574ee_o-1024x684.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Presidencia-de-la-Republica-Mexicana-_Flickr_4c8c8574ee_o.jpg 2560w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 768px, (max-width: 1024px) 1024px, 2560px\" alt=\"A group of wind turbines stands tall in a green field under a clear blue sky\"\/><\/div><div class=\"block--article-image__content\"><div itemprop=\"caption\" class=\"block--article-image__caption\">The Ventika wind farm in the state of Nuevo Le\u00f3n, northern Mexico. Although wind power is widely described as a \u2018clean\u2019 source, the waste disposal of its blades can create a pollution problem (Image: <a href=\"https:\/\/flic.kr\/p\/LZA6wb\">Presidencia de la Rep\u00fablica Mexicana<\/a> \/ <a href=\"https:\/\/flickr.com\/people\/presidenciamx\">Flickr<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/2.0\/deed.pt-br\">CC BY<\/a>)<\/div><\/div><\/div><meta itemprop=\"contentUrl\" content=\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Presidencia-de-la-Republica-Mexicana-_Flickr_4c8c8574ee_o.jpg\"\/><meta itemprop=\"contentSize\" content=\"870 KB\"\/><meta itemprop=\"height\" content=\"1709\"\/><meta itemprop=\"width\" content=\"2560\"\/><meta itemprop=\"author\"\/><meta itemprop=\"representativeOfPage\" content=\"true\"\/><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>In approaching energy justice, we must think beyond simplistic binaries: of fossil fuel versus renewable energy, Global North versus Global South, modern versus traditional notions of development. The political economies of extractivist states that rely on oil and gas revenues to fund basic services are not easy systems to dislodge, nor are they inherently unjust in their origins. But as transitions unfold, the shift toward \u201ccleaner\u201d alternatives risks <a href=\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/justice\/can-latin-america-avoid-green-extractivism\/\">compounding the same injustices<\/a> \u2013 land dispossession, environmental degradation and social exclusion \u2013 that have long plagued Latin American energy systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In Chile and Peru, the entanglement of <a href=\"https:\/\/earthobservatory.nasa.gov\/images\/152368\/copper-mining-at-chuquicamata\">copper mining<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/justice\/citizens-and-state-at-odds-over-chiles-rucalhue-dam\/\">large hydropower projects<\/a> with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ids.ac.uk\/publications\/bringing-democracy-to-governance-of-mining-for-a-just-energy-transition\/\">local conflicts<\/a> reminds us that minerals critical to green transitions often come at a steep social and ecological cost, such as the degradation of local environments and the strengthening of intracommunity conflicts. Energy justice in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.business-humanrights.org\/it\/latest-news\/costa-rica-supreme-court-stops-ice-hydroelectric-project-diquis-for-failing-to-consult-indigenous-peoples\/\">Costa Rica<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ciel.org\/panama-withdraws-problematic-barro-blanco-dam-project-cdm-registry\/\">Panama<\/a> reveals a similar pattern, where Indigenous communities are often sidelined in project planning, despite national policies that promote sustainability and inclusion. Whether it\u2019s the violation of Indigenous rights, as reflected in <a href=\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/business\/57525-understanding-bolivias-long-struggle-to-exploit-its-lithium-reserves\/\">Bolivia\u2019s lithium frontier<\/a>, or the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.i2massociates.com\/downloads\/PREPRINT-SSRN-id4043654.pdf\">neglect of wind-turbine waste<\/a> in rural Mexico, a cautionary story consistently emerges: low-carbon transitions without meaningful consent or co-design from impacted communities are likely to perpetuate harm and trigger local conflicts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<a class=\"wp-block-cd-related-news alignright block--related-news loading\" data-post-id=\"60076763\"><div class=\"block--related-news__image\"><\/div><div class=\"block--related-news__content\"><span class=\"block--related-news__heading\">Recommended<\/span><span class=\"block--related-news__title\"><\/span><\/div><\/a>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s clear that alternative frameworks of justice need to be engaged with. We must move beyond the dominant conceptions of fairness rooted in Western philosophical traditions. In our book, one chapter combines ideas from bioethics, the philosopher John Rawls\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/plato.stanford.edu\/entries\/rawls\/\">concept of fairness<\/a>, and the reality of poverty in Latin America to show why relying only on technical or economic solutions is not enough to address complex social problems. Issues like inequality and exclusion must be tackled with approaches that are ethically grounded and socially just, it argues, because simply improving technology or boosting the economy doesn\u2019t necessarily help those most in need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a><\/a>Following a similar critical line, another envisions a feminist energy justice challenging patriarchal and colonial power structures embedded in energy systems. Feminist energy justice calls for a transformative approach to energy systems that goes beyond simply increasing women\u2019s participation or representation. The call is to actively challenge and reshape the social, political, economic and cultural structures that underpin how energy is produced, distributed and consumed, in ways that affirm life and enable collective liberation. Such approaches facilitate identifying and addressing patriarchal and colonial power structures in energy systems, which sideline the needs and voices of vulnerable groups. They also highlight the imposing of national or global energy market needs over the wellbeing of local, often Indigenous, communities in Latin America. These approaches are not theoretical abstractions; they are necessary lenses through which to understand the lived experiences of millions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-9d6595d7 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-cd-article-image aligncenter block--article-image block--article-image--article\" itemscope itemtype=\"http:\/\/schema.org\/ImageObject\"><div class=\"block--article-image__column\"><div class=\"hide-expand block--article-image__image\"><img class=\"lazy\" data-src=\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250412_women-building-portable-solar-lamps_Barefoot-center_Batzul_Guatemala_Edwin-Solares_Dialogue-Earth.jpg\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250412_women-building-portable-solar-lamps_Barefoot-center_Batzul_Guatemala_Edwin-Solares_Dialogue-Earth-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250412_women-building-portable-solar-lamps_Barefoot-center_Batzul_Guatemala_Edwin-Solares_Dialogue-Earth-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250412_women-building-portable-solar-lamps_Barefoot-center_Batzul_Guatemala_Edwin-Solares_Dialogue-Earth.jpg 2560w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 768px, (max-width: 1024px) 1024px, 2560px\" alt=\"A classroom scene featuring women engaged in hands-on work with electronics\"\/><\/div><div class=\"block--article-image__content\"><div itemprop=\"caption\" class=\"block--article-image__caption\">Mayan women build solar lamps in Guatemala to bring light to their communities. Feminist energy justice calls to challenge and reshape the social, political, economic and cultural dynamics that underpin how energy is produced, distributed and consumed (Image: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.solaresalguero.com\">Edwin Solares<\/a> \/ Dialogue Earth)<\/div><\/div><\/div><meta itemprop=\"contentUrl\" content=\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250412_women-building-portable-solar-lamps_Barefoot-center_Batzul_Guatemala_Edwin-Solares_Dialogue-Earth.jpg\"\/><meta itemprop=\"contentSize\" content=\"2 MB\"\/><meta itemprop=\"height\" content=\"1707\"\/><meta itemprop=\"width\" content=\"2560\"\/><meta itemprop=\"author\"\/><meta itemprop=\"representativeOfPage\" content=\"true\"\/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-cd-article-image aligncenter block--article-image block--article-image--article\" itemscope itemtype=\"http:\/\/schema.org\/ImageObject\"><div class=\"block--article-image__column\"><div class=\"hide-expand block--article-image__image\"><img class=\"lazy\" data-src=\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Gaucho-men-in-front-of-a-solar-panel-in-Tacuarembo_Secretaria-de-Comunicacion-de-Presidencia-de-la-Republica-Oriental-del-Uruguay_Flickr_d4a6bb1904.jpg\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Gaucho-men-in-front-of-a-solar-panel-in-Tacuarembo_Secretaria-de-Comunicacion-de-Presidencia-de-la-Republica-Oriental-del-Uruguay_Flickr_d4a6bb1904-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Gaucho-men-in-front-of-a-solar-panel-in-Tacuarembo_Secretaria-de-Comunicacion-de-Presidencia-de-la-Republica-Oriental-del-Uruguay_Flickr_d4a6bb1904-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Gaucho-men-in-front-of-a-solar-panel-in-Tacuarembo_Secretaria-de-Comunicacion-de-Presidencia-de-la-Republica-Oriental-del-Uruguay_Flickr_d4a6bb1904.jpg 2048w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 768px, (max-width: 1024px) 1024px, 2048px\" alt=\"a group of men in front of a solar panel\"\/><\/div><div class=\"block--article-image__content\"><div itemprop=\"caption\" class=\"block--article-image__caption\"><em>Gaucho<\/em> men in front of a solar panel in Tacuaremb\u00f3, northern Uruguay. Addressing patriarchal power structures in energy systems is key to meeting the needs of vulnerable groups (Image: <a href=\"https:\/\/flic.kr\/p\/muY2Pe\">Secretar\u00eda de Comunicaci\u00f3n de Presidencia de la Rep\u00fablica Oriental del Uruguay<\/a> \/ <a href=\"https:\/\/flickr.com\/people\/presidenciauy\">Flickr<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc-nd\/2.0\/deed.pt-br\">CC BY NC ND<\/a>)<\/div><\/div><\/div><meta itemprop=\"contentUrl\" content=\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Gaucho-men-in-front-of-a-solar-panel-in-Tacuarembo_Secretaria-de-Comunicacion-de-Presidencia-de-la-Republica-Oriental-del-Uruguay_Flickr_d4a6bb1904.jpg\"\/><meta itemprop=\"contentSize\" content=\"844 KB\"\/><meta itemprop=\"height\" content=\"1366\"\/><meta itemprop=\"width\" content=\"2048\"\/><meta itemprop=\"author\"\/><meta itemprop=\"representativeOfPage\" content=\"true\"\/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>In Latin America, the relationship between energy justice, community agency and resistance is evident.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In Argentina, grassroots \u201cterritorial energisation\u201d efforts demonstrate how locally designed energy solutions can confront inequality while building collective power, such as <a href=\"https:\/\/elregionaldigital.com.ar\/ya-funciona-el-parque-fotovoltaico-solar-de-la-localidad-de-arribenos-1\/\">the Arribe\u00f1os solar farm<\/a>, which seeks to respond to social demands for security and stability of service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In Ecuador, the constitutional principles of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.environmentandsociety.org\/arcadia\/constitution-republic-ecuador-pachamama-has-rights\">Buen Vivir and Pacha Mama<\/a> made it the first country in the world to recognise the rights of nature, and bring Indigenous values into formal energy policy, offering pathways for intergenerational fairness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In Mexico, a decolonial, pluriversal approach to energy justice is being called for. Such an approach is composed of value systems that extend beyond quantitative metrics like carbon intensity and emissions, into how valuable the renewable-energy project is for the local community. This opens the door to radically different futures where energy is not merely a commodity or service, but is rooted in strong social and cultural relations. It would seek to fulfil local needs or power traditional economic activities instead of following the mandates of capitalist modernity or global goals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-cd-pull-quote block--pull-quote block--pull-quote--no-citation\"><div class=\"block--pull-quote__wrapper\"><blockquote class=\"block--pull-quote__quote\">Energy systems and low-carbon transitions are not neutral assemblages of finance, wires and turbines; they are expressions of political choices, cultural values and historical trajectories<\/blockquote><cite class=\"block--pull-quote__cite\"><\/cite><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Current energy discourses often assume that scaling up solar panels or deploying green hydrogen will solve our problems. These are simplistic views that must be challenged. Similarly, energy systems and low-carbon transitions are not neutral assemblages of finance, wires and turbines; they are expressions of political choices, cultural values and historical trajectories. Knowing more about what Latin American communities have faced allows us to understand just how \u201cclean\u201d technologies are not inherently just, and often perpetuate land dispossession, reinforce social exclusion and ignore the voices of those most affected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This insight is urgently needed as we face a global transition that will affect every community on Earth. If the goal is not just to decarbonise but to build equitable, democratic and culturally meaningful energy futures, then energy justice must be built from the ground up \u2013 embracing multiple ways of knowing and being, such as community-led or -owned energy projects. Latin America is not just a case study, but a crucible for rethinking energy justice itself. Its Indigenous cosmologies and social movements, as well as the academic critiques that arise, offer indispensable resources to envision and create a more inclusive and pluralistic energy future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In a decisive decade for climate action, we have made significant improvements and gained more experience as a global community in building cleaner, low-carbon energy systems. However, the exploration of energy justice in Latin America raises an equally crucial question: can we also build fairer ones? I want to believe the answer is a resounding \u201cyes\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But getting there requires a profound reckoning with the region\u2019s history of extractivism and colonialism. It needs a present-day commitment to inclusion and collaboration that genuinely embraces diverse voices and knowledges across territories, and a collective effort of co-creation. Only through this process can we begin to reshape the structures that sustain today\u2019s energy systems and design alternatives that affirm life, reconciling local needs and aspirations with global decarbonisation goals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.routledge.com\/Energy-Justice-in-Latin-America-Reflections-Lessons-and-Critiques\/Mejia-Montero\/p\/book\/9781032795324?srsltid=AfmBOop__Sen_qNEkHnPa2q7wddDvFaYT1kpSqGvUSdaEB8_EYLE_uym\"><em>Energy Justice in Latin America: Reflections, Lessons, and Critiques<\/em><\/a><em>, edited by Adolfo Mejia Montero, was published by Routledge in February 2025.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The region\u2019s Indigenous cultures and social movements present a wealth of possibilities from which to build equitable and democratic energy futures, writes Adolfo Mejia Montero<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":60094713,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","categories":[757,50039900],"tags":[50042205,17073,555],"country":[50000020,50002592,50000024,50000023,50002594,50002597,50002599,50002601],"class_list":["post-60094697","opinion","type-opinion","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-energy","category-justice","tag-culture","tag-energy-transition","tag-indigenous-peoples","country-argentina","country-bolivia","country-chile","country-costa-rica","country-ecuador","country-mexico","country-panama","country-peru"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v26.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Opinion: It\u2019s time to centre justice in Latin America\u2019s energy future<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The region\u2019s Indigenous cultures and social movements present a wealth of possibilities 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