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

Abstract

Analysed from the perspective of energy justice and focusing on social and cultural sustainability, this paper examines two case studies of extractive renewable energy megaprojects located in the biologically and culturally diverse peninsula of Yucatan. 1) We examine the case study of the jatropha plantations established by the American based company, Global Clean Energy, near the Maya village of Sucopo, Tizimin, Yucatan and show how, despite its certificate for sustainability from the Roundtable on Sustainable Biomaterials, the company failed to live up to the social, ecological and economic expectations it created. Closing its operation after only four years and before ever producing any jatropha biodiesel, the project was responsible for ecological damage and causing disappointment and economic suffering amongst the 500 Maya workers it contracted to work on the plantations. 2) Since Mexico´s energy reform and its Law for Energy Transition, Yucatan has become the focus of interest of foreign companies wanting to invest in renewable energy parks. Over twenty solar and wind farms have been approved as part of the country´s plan to meet its renewable energy goals. However, the approval process has been full of omissions and unfair practices which we document in the case study of Ixil, Yucatan, as an example of how the extractive megaprojects approach, taken by the government, continues to damage the environment and infringe on the human and indigenous rights of the local Maya people.