Green colonialism in Latin America? Towards a new research agenda for the global energy transition

Abstract

Drawing on various empirical examples (e.g. lithium, green hydrogen, REDD+), several studies point out that the global energy transition continues to be based on the geographic externalization of labour, natural resources, and sinks. The energy transition thus increases the pressure on natural resources in Latin America and reproduces the continent’s position as the world’s raw material supplier. This is increasingly referred to as ‘green colonialism’ by (scholar) activists. Moving past a merely provocative catchphrase, in this paper, I discuss the analytical implications and value of the term green colonialism for normative political-ecological research. In so doing, it becomes evident that the coloniality of the energy transition has to be understood as a political-epistemological project. This is of particular relevance for Latin America. Embedded in the hegemonic Euro-North American-centered modernity, the energy transition advances techno-optimist solutions and reproduces patterns of thought, knowledge and action. However, it soon becomes evident that the geographies of decarbonization are significantly more complex and shaped by multiple actors, policies, and strategies. Therefore, further research is needed on the geopolitics and geopolitical economy of the energy transition, going beyond the North-South dichotomy.