Sixteenth International Conference on Environmental, Cultural, Economic & Social Sustainability

Abstract

The hydropower industry in Colombia is developing in contexts of violence because of armed conflict. This paper contributes to the filling of a knowledge gap between the energy business practices and the local implications of the armed conflict and the peace talks in Colombia. The governance of business sustainability is analyzed within violence, drawing upon a cross-case study from the hydropower industry to describe emergent issues, dominant players, and tools that may provide solutions. The cross-case study method is based on the hermeneutical analysis of thirty-eight in-depth interviews carried out with members of community, energy sector, and state from two territories of the Colombian Andes. The results exhibit conventional problems such as climate change, dwindling biodiversity, and the deteriorating condition of natural resources, in addition to the characteristic difficulties of armed conflicts, such as illegality, distrustfulness, and lack of opportunity for local populations. In view of both the weakness of the state and the scarcity of social capital, energy companies emerge as a central player in association with nongovernmental organizations. The tools used are more geared toward planning than they are toward joint action and evaluation. It was concluded that the management of hydropower stations in the contexts of violence requires companies to orient their actions toward results and evaluate the impact of its management. Such management must be based on transformational relationships aimed at reducing the existing asymmetry between players and distributing the costs and benefits of the hydropower station more equitably.