IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jlands/v12y2023i6p1241-d1173078.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Energy Colonialism: A Category to Analyse the Corporate Energy Transition in the Global South and North

Author

Listed:
  • Josefa Sánchez Contreras

    (Department of Sociology, University of Granada, 18071 Granada, Spain)

  • Alberto Matarán Ruiz

    (Department of Urban and Regional Planning, University of Granada, 18071 Granada, Spain)

  • Alvaro Campos-Celador

    (Department of Energy Engineering, Faculty of Engineering of Gipuzkoa (Eibar Section), University of the Basque Country, UPV/EHU, 20600 Eibar, Spain)

  • Eva Maria Fjellheim

    (Centre for Sámi Studies, UiT—The Arctic University of Norway, 9019 Tromsø, Norway)

Abstract

This article aims to define the category of energy colonialism in order to analyse the conflicts that are arising due to the deployment of renewable energy megaprojects in the Global South and in the peripheries of the Global North. First, the limits of the corporate energy transition are questioned, and based on an exhaustive bibliographic review, the category of energy colonialism is formulated along with six dimensions that characterise it: geopolitical; economic and financial inequalities; power, violence, and decision making; land grabbing and dispossession; impacts on territories and commons; resistance and socio-territorial conflicts. Based on this framework, we analyse and juxtapose different expressions of energy colonialism in four case studies; the isthmus of Tehuantepec (Oaxaca, Mexico), the territories of Western Sahara occupied by Morocco, the Saami territory in Norway, and the rural territories of Spain. The results from this study allow us to conclude that energy colonialism is a useful concept for understanding and critiquing the effects of the corporate energy transition and establishing a base for grassroots and decolonial alternatives in both the Global North and South.

Suggested Citation

  • Josefa Sánchez Contreras & Alberto Matarán Ruiz & Alvaro Campos-Celador & Eva Maria Fjellheim, 2023. "Energy Colonialism: A Category to Analyse the Corporate Energy Transition in the Global South and North," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(6), pages 1-15, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jlands:v:12:y:2023:i:6:p:1241-:d:1173078
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/12/6/1241/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/12/6/1241/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Bouzarovski, Stefan & Simcock, Neil, 2017. "Spatializing energy justice," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 640-648.
    2. Hall, Charles A.S. & Lambert, Jessica G. & Balogh, Stephen B., 2014. "EROI of different fuels and the implications for society," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 141-152.
    3. Adam G. Bumpus & Diana M. Liverman, 2008. "Accumulation by Decarbonization and the Governance of Carbon Offsets," Economic Geography, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 84(2), pages 127-155, April.
    4. Adam G. Bumpus & Diana M. Liverman, 2008. "Accumulation by Decarbonization and the Governance of Carbon Offsets," Economic Geography, Clark University, vol. 84(2), pages 127-155, April.
    5. Wolsink, Maarten, 2000. "Wind power and the NIMBY-myth: institutional capacity and the limited significance of public support," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 21(1), pages 49-64.
    6. de Castro, Carlos & Mediavilla, Margarita & Miguel, Luis Javier & Frechoso, Fernando, 2011. "Global wind power potential: Physical and technological limits," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(10), pages 6677-6682, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Josefa Sánchez Contreras & Alberto Matarán Ruiz & Luis Villodres Ramírez & Celia Jiménez Martín & Guillermo Gámez Rodríguez & Rafael Martín Pérez & Álvaro Campos-Celador, 2024. "Energy Colonialism in Europe: A Participatory Analysis of the Case of Granada (Spain)," Land, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-27, January.
    2. Natalie Slawinski & Jonatan Pinkse & Timo Busch & Subhabrata Bobby Banerjeed, 2014. "The role of short-termism and uncertainty in organizational inaction on climate change: multilevel framework," Working Papers hal-00961226, HAL.
    3. Jayme Walenta, 2020. "Climate risk assessments and science‐based targets: A review of emerging private sector climate action tools," Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 11(2), March.
    4. Anna Davies & Niamh Kirwan, 2010. "Rescaling climate justice: sub-national issues and innovations for low carbon futures," The Institute for International Integration Studies Discussion Paper Series iiisdp340, IIIS.
    5. Howard, Rebecca Joy & Tallontire, Anne & Stringer, Lindsay & Marchant, Rob, 2015. "Unraveling the Notion of “Fair Carbon”: Key Challenges for Standards Development," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 343-356.
    6. Frate, Cláudio Albuquerque & Brannstrom, Christian & de Morais, Marcus Vinícius Girão & Caldeira-Pires, Armando de Azevedo, 2019. "Procedural and distributive justice inform subjectivity regarding wind power: A case from Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 185-195.
    7. Nabernegg, Stefan & Bednar-Friedl, Birgit & Muñoz, Pablo & Titz, Michaela & Vogel, Johanna, 2019. "National Policies for Global Emission Reductions: Effectiveness of Carbon Emission Reductions in International Supply Chains," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 158(C), pages 146-157.
    8. Kelly Kay, 2016. "Breaking the bundle of rights: Conservation easements and the legal geographies of individuating nature," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 48(3), pages 504-522, March.
    9. Xiaoying Xu & Xinxin Tian, 2023. "Dynamic Evolution and Trend Prediction in Coupling Coordination between Energy Consumption and Green Development in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(18), pages 1-21, September.
    10. Dupont, Elise & Koppelaar, Rembrandt & Jeanmart, Hervé, 2018. "Global available wind energy with physical and energy return on investment constraints," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 209(C), pages 322-338.
    11. Anderson, Blake & M'Gonigle, Michael, 2012. "Does ecological economics have a future?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 37-48.
    12. Heather Lovell & Harriet Bulkeley & Diana Liverman, 2009. "Carbon Offsetting: Sustaining Consumption?," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 41(10), pages 2357-2379, October.
    13. Spash, Clive L. & Theine, Hendrik, 2016. "Voluntary Individual Carbon Trading," SRE-Discussion Papers 2016/04, WU Vienna University of Economics and Business.
      • Clive L. Spash & Hendrik Theine, 2016. "Voluntary Individual Carbon Trading," SRE-Disc sre-disc-2016_04, Institute for Multilevel Governance and Development, Department of Socioeconomics, Vienna University of Economics and Business.
    14. Arcusa, Stephanie & Hagood, Emily, 2023. "Definitions and mechanisms for managing durability and reversals in standards and procurers of carbon dioxide removal," OSF Preprints 6bth5, Center for Open Science.
    15. Brett Christophers & Patrick Bigger & Leigh Johnson, 2020. "Stretching scales? Risk and sociality in climate finance," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 52(1), pages 88-110, February.
    16. Mahtab Kouhizadeh & Joseph Sarkis, 2018. "Blockchain Practices, Potentials, and Perspectives in Greening Supply Chains," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-16, October.
    17. Purdon, Mark, 2015. "Opening the Black Box of Carbon Finance “Additionality”: The Political Economy of Carbon Finance Effectiveness across Tanzania, Uganda, and Moldova," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 462-478.
    18. Yonn Dierwechter & Anne Taufen Wessells, 2013. "The Uneven Localisation of Climate Action in Metropolitan Seattle," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 50(7), pages 1368-1385, May.
    19. Svenja Keele, 2019. "Consultants and the business of climate services: implications of shifting from public to private science," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 157(1), pages 9-26, November.
    20. Eric Helleiner & Jason Thistlethwaite, 2013. "Subprime catalyst: Financial regulatory reform and the strengthening of US carbon market governance," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 7(4), pages 496-511, December.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jlands:v:12:y:2023:i:6:p:1241-:d:1173078. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.