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Abstract

Chinese investments in large hydropower dams have rapidly increased all over the world in the last 20 years. Some of these projects have been contested both from a technological and political point of view due to the ways in which decisions have been made, as well as in relation to the resulting social-ecological change and ecological distributional aspects. From an Environmental Justice perspective, this paper analyses the main drivers and contested aspects of Chinese hydropower investments in the global South. The paper builds on Chinese projects located in different regions of the world, by combining information from the literature and the Global Atlas of Environmental Justice – EJAtlas dataset. Based on the analysis of Chinese hydropower projects and environmental justice concerns, this paper sheds light on the current literature on drivers and multidimensional conflictive outcomes of these large hydropower dam investments.

                
 !


    !"#  $!% & 
'$'%
!()!*"+*,
  " -        
./-0
12(345"6766+6
#$%
(,8*898
&
          "        *    
*,*:"*
: ;2<6 !* "*,  *",  .=> 
*?33@4?32@,*"",*A>$1
"      )5
*5BB,,,6,"6"BBBB*,B%6  CD    6
;2<    *  A3>    *            
*,,,6
 *  ?333 * 1 '+ , * " E  "4
*,,6(,
*              ,*  "  
;?<*";.FF<*,
"*2==3G,6?333*
    +    "      "  *,  
    *+          *  H
,****?333I-"4J"*
?32.I')J;A<6!*" **,0
;@<6
!*""*4,'+$'%
$%    ,          ""    ,    
  ,***H  E
  *    "  ;/FF<6  "    *      
    *    ""    *,  $    
?32K%=/>**,G*
      ?333  ;A<6      *  "    G  *  
0  *      ""  4"  *"
"  G
";KL=23F22F2?F2.FF2A2@FF2/FF<6
*,:*D+
*  4  "    "  *"    *
"*"*61D*
**M""
  *    G      N  "    *  ,    "
  *  -        9  $9  
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
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*    *  + 
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$!2%61*A3>*,*G
*  *  ""*H  *
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;A<6
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*, G $    %  " ?33/4
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E @= 2
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  ! ? , "* , I*J  IJ  
*  4" N" , E  
*I*J*+*,
IJ***",*
*,6
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  *  .  
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.1
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IP"*J
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*""
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*  ,  
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(      *  -
*
      *  ""
4"  *"


  "    
*"  Q    
O*$O%G
""2===*-""*,**M?332
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 ) J *  ?32.   : *  
  "      *,  " *  4  I+4
)'J$)'%*4IO+)J$O)%6!*
+",
  +        :      4    
*  "*          "  ,
**6**,
"*****
*)*O;2K2LF<6
!* " * N 5    "6
R,****"
*",
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,%"";2K@2=<6R
,*****E+
,++
,*  *"*    :    N    *    *  *,
;?32@FF<6!*:**,E*"*
    *  +              
"*"**4,+
,4E*:'+*;/FF<
  *  +  )  R       *  ,  
+*'+$'%6O*
*  *,               
D "* * -" 
,***";2@FF<6**
*  4"  * "     
;?3<6  R  :  *        *,     
+"**,**
**N
,""*;?32LF<6
!*"**,
+"*+","
*",;2LF??
?.  ?A  ?@<  $9    )5 *5BBG6"BDB*"44
8 9    )5 *5BBG6"BDB444
,44%6**
*I4"*J,****4
,***
;?/82@<6!*N*
1*"H**1
'+OR,**
    "  E         $6"6  *
"*%;?K<6
,*
" E,* , 4 *  *
        ,*  *                "
*,   + *    
,*""",*
"          *  *  ,      *
        "    G  $!  ?%  ;2@FF  ?2F  ?L<6
(,                  
      *"  "  "    ,      
  *"*  *    PM  4N"  *  
  O*  $O%          *"*  *  -
R;?=<6**"*"*G*O
        "  *,        
0*;.3.2<6*"*
*""**O;.?..<6
   *    " "
 " ,    * ;.A .@<6 S
            *,    *  
"  *    P    OH0      "4  
, +   46 R     , "
        I,          
"*""J;./<,
6
26*
2
G"*,
","*E;?L.K.L.=A3A2.FF@3/A<6O","
"*,*"**
,**"D;.FF<6*D
      G      *  ,  *,  
E        "          N  
"    ,          66  *,      ,
**4+";A?A.2/FF<6
  G              G  
G;/@//F/K<6G*
*0,*"
+**,0
TMT"M6G
   4+"        *    ;//F  /K<6
*"  "  *         "    
      *  G ;//F<6 
*"G*",**
*0*E"
  $*    "  G%    ,        
"4+" $*"G%;/L/=<6
*"O$?32L%"***,
          "  *        
"*""*
;K?<6
***
,H
"  "  ;2@FF<6    !  .  ,          *  
      *,    *  *      
      G     D  ,  4
*"6
+ 7 D    *,   *
"4*
 #$6
-"* "$+%
)4
!
"$6"6"
%
) 


-, 
!G

4$%
"
O""*
,

!*" !:++,"

 *
*
)"N,,
(

!*        "    *        H  
:  "   G  ;A@<6
*H"**H
*  4    $  G  %    *  0
    E  ,      N  ""*  
$  G  %  ;A.<      ,      
,;AAFF<6
!*""*,G"
H  *            *      
"    "*        D    E    *
"*"*6R*'+
    O          *    '  ,"  *
    6  23333  "  *          ""
",*"P-;A/AKF ALF<
$9)5*5BBG6"BDB%6S
+,"***EE,
:O*'+ "6*
*,          4        *
    0  0          *  
"M-*;K3K2<6
"  *        E  *      "  
              *    GE    "  
    ,        6        "
*,  G    *  "  *  +        "
;A=F@3F<6*D*
,***"
   :       
"    ;@2F  A/<6  !*    +    G
:**P"*O
,**=3>*:*
*  "M        OM  ","  "  6  
H  "  *      *  *    $9 
)5 *5BBG6"BDB"4*444*4,44*44
 G%6
"  *,      *  "  *    *  
  D  *   ,  ,
"*" * *O+"' ;2LF @?<6
U  *M "   * O+" 
",
 ",*,;22F<6
)  "  * 
  *        "4
*,  G                  *  
6?32L6)**"*
4+"G*H
***""
      *  H      *  V  H    !GW
*,;?.<  -*  ' ;??<
         4  
;?A<6

              *
N"G*G"4
+";A.<6O*"4
" G ;@.<6R 
*          ,*  *      4
    $%    "  ,+   
"4""*
,*4+";?<6
R"*"***
"* " * *  "6!* 
*,**;L<,**
*6P*
*""*
E"  *  66 '  !
$'!% ""    $% 6  
    $+  %  *          *
    *    ,*  *  *    + *    
"*"***"
  *  "  *"        
* 6  '! "*
4"      *        
        :*"    "  "*        
?34A3;@AF<6!***+*,*
***"6
"    ) *  
       G * 
*,          '!      *
    G  6  "  *        *  
  0    "4    *  '!        
      "6  !*  *"*"*  *  *"    *
      *      *     , 
 ,* "**   ,+;@AF
2.FF<6
  :    *      *  *        ,*  ,
,+;/FFL<6!**?33K
*, *  ,    ?32?6 9  ,
  *        N    "    *
  *    +"      
"    "    ;@2F  @@F<6    *      
  *    *  '      -*    '+      O
  *   *  , * 
                
 H 0 *  
+   *,* +  + 
    "   *   ;2?F
ALF<6

6;@/F<**'!,**0"4
      *  4    *  *      *
    *"  $*,%  *      +    +,4*,  
*+,"  :  
*,          
'!,*:**,6!*
 ,+
*4,4+***
6 O* "  N G   G 
****6

!* "N ,,
***"
G;A.<6';.FF<"*"
0N"*,,
"6"("*
;@KFF<  *    +"  ""    *    ,*  
*"*N+*
:D,*""6
        "  *,      *  -  O+"  )"  
:  *  *,  *    "        "  N
   N  "   "
"D;@KFF<6R*,?
    *  +  D    *  "*      
"    ,  "  "  "  *  
*    *    ;@KFF<6    *    S,      O
        *    *    
,D*
$9  )5 *5BBG6"BDB4,44
4*444*44%6
*DM"*:*
I: J  ;@L@=<6 *
"      "G    "
"?33L;/3<GE"E"
"*";/2<6!*G
*H*)'';/2<*"
  *  :    *    )    (  ;/?< 
:*E*4M""*",**
*           "      *      
6  *      ,        : *
              "  H     ;/@<6
: *OM ,  *
D  *    *  ("          $9    )5
*5BBG6"BDB*"44%    *  "      *
  $9    )5 *5BBG6"BDB+4"444*4
,44%6,*""
 D  * "   ,* 
"*O;/.F<6

*  "       E    *    "
*,H""6
!***"*,
"6?3*1
  M    *    *  ,**      *  "
    "            *  
GD,*"
*"*6!*,*"",**
*"**I4"*J
"    ""
,**4:4""
"H**
,,* "H61** *
* " *,        "
*    *,** +   G  *
""**6!*+
        "          *  
G     *  4* "
*,:*"*6
 %
!*,+,*U+,"R*1!
*+)++9"*-!
*-*$-!%G8*)*
$)%"**M""G;"B932.?3XB2<8
*)**9G!4';"
-/=@AA/<6!**,+*+9OH4
,**"*6
-*
;2<CD'+9!+!+56
$%6 !8852/2Q2K3
;?<1$%5"#"#$%&#'"('6
) * 1  6 * 
"U8?3336
;.FF<'*!5/9
$6
 %6 ),7.715/2KQ/..6
  *      0      ??3  4    D
*-9$9%
+,"4,H6
;A<  94  5 -6      :  
&;$%%4<<=4<,8
*?32K6
;@<*?32K5>%$
'G"*6
;/FF<!4OO5 :+"! &
* -    ($ % 6 +  
, -?=.715.Q.?6
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$    6 +$  .$  ($  / B<  .715  ?=AQ.3?6
*5BB:66"B236232/BG6G6?33L63K63?.6
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  :    6 .# "#    0
,D.415?L@4.3365236233KB23//L432?4=A234A
;=< R P 9  -  '5 $%
$"+#$
61232 !4.715@K.4@L=6
;23F<*15$%/$
 /$$"  A
  6 2$ *$  -5 ,E,F6
*5BB:66"B23623L3B3=@2?KAL6?32K62?=.K2A6
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O**,*,",*
,*
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"$ L7?.D15KAK4KK3*5BB:66"B23623L3B3K=33/?K6?32K62.?=2.L6
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"M*,"
U6
;2?F< S+ 1   ,   R  -5 + 
*   *    2  
 * "$2*$ 5 7=5AK/4A=A
*5BB:66"B2362222B62??@=6
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:****"
*  * '*, G * ,**
,   *   * * 6 !*   *
,** Y  G  E" " *
Z *-* "",   
"***"6
;2.FF< ** 9 O*, P * 9 1 O95 '  ;
0$)"*2/$
    6 . 2  - ,<45  @?=Q@.=6
*5BB:66"B236232/BG66?32/62?63@L6
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O      6  !*    E  *       *
" +  6 !* * "
** **" H "*
G6
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/  ;$%" (     +
&0$C@> 4 ! -5/?/=4
/?LA5236..=3B,K22/?/=6
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 $%2 *6
6$ -47<5A/A4ALL*5BB:66"B236232KB3.3@KA232/3323A2
!*:*  *+*" *
,      *      *        
:6  !*      *  *  "  "    "
"    *  4"              
  ,  *  +           *
**6
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8      9        "#:;6
)"8?32L6
!*  +  :  *  "    4      "
* M   ,4  4    
  +  *, * "  G  
*6
;2K<   OO5 A  'G    G  -)  "  @  *
    6 $ +$ $ $  5 45  .3QA.6
*5BB:66"B23622/.B?.@?@?3K42?.A332A6
;2LF< O  O*, P5 -%- *;$%
/ ./167"#
   8   9    "#:
;6-R6)"8?32L5?2
!*  *  :  *        +    O+"
"  **,*
-O+"4"[)O!*
UP6
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?3.3%6  ?32K  'G"  *  )5
*5BB,,,6"6B:,B?32K3AB?@B@?.3@/LBEB?L/@2A.@AA2@KL@K.L
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-6 .$ "$   0 ,D5  .32Q.?A6
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$"  $ *   :   
6.2 ),,75@A/4@@L6
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;?@<OO5+% >:%
   * $%    / 
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;?/< O    '*    ',  P5 @  "  A
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2   4 <  55  )5
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    6   2$  2  $   ! 45  @K.Q@L=6
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)*6P^O6"*8?32A52A=42/L6
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;.?<,    P^  )5 GK          
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2.*: :  5'+6
;.A< R  O    6     *  
6%# .=15.L?
;.@< O+    !O-  RR*  (R  *  ORH+
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.$ 0=?8.,D15L2.34K6523623?2BA33.=3K
;./< P^ O '"* )5 + *$
"$$*
6  7'   6 1'6 ,4
"8?32K5287–301.
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;.=< OH U  5 +  $ * $%" 
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*5BB6"B236232/BG66?32/63L63?.
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 $ @  + $: 
$%       +    +  
 582@2342@?@6doi.org/10.1080/13549839.2017.1368465
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;ALF< R    5      *9" + % 
@%6+, -?=.715A=6
!*  +   " *  *  
   * '+(    ,+
O6)*,*"
N" ,* "     "6
",*N"*
**6
;A=F< ,    S+  1    '    '5 -  I
6    %      *        
6%$*$&# -A25?..4?A.6
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' 6  E   D  * Y 
,*.3_+*"**'+U),*6
;@3F<OG+RP9'-R-5+
*    "      *  $%      
  6   2$ 2 $  - ?.715  A.K4A@3
*5BB:66"B236233?B@62LK6
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"*****'+
    O6  !*    E  *  *  "    *      
E*
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      *    #$  6 4  5 F45  A3@6
*5BB:66"B236..=3B,L3=3A3@6
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*M      *     "  M        
*  *, "
*"6
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+K+C;$%&5
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8?32K52KA42L36
;@.< (N  )9  O  5 +    *  $  2    
6.2 -,<D5/@L4//K
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6
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523623L3B2@@K@..36?32K62.3AA.?6
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6
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P**"6
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, -?=7L@Q22L6
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:"*+,,**"*
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;@L<  $%5    ,8    ##    6
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;@=<(!aHO#R$%5.>2>?#6
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P*Q96* =.8,15
..4/36
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P,"?3226
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     !6   
?32K.715.A=Q./A6*5BB6"B23623L3B2A/K?K2@6?32K62.?L?LA6
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?@/6
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... The hydraulic mission refers to a state's strategic goals, narrative discourses, and practices accompanying the building of large-scale hydraulic infrastructures such as dams and canals across river basins [1,2]. The growing need for a shift to low-carbon resilient development has necessitated scaling-up the development of renewable energy sources such as hydropower [3][4][5]. This has led to expansion of the building of hydropower dams across river basins worldwide. ...
... This has led to expansion of the building of hydropower dams across river basins worldwide. However, several studies have shown trade-offs between boosting national renewable energy portfolio and entailing local negative environmental and socioeconomic impacts in the building of hydropower dams [3,[6][7][8]. Hydropower dams cause negative impacts such as displacement, loss of access to natural resources, livelihood and ecological disturbance on the communities adjacent to river basins [9,10]. However, the discourses of developmental opportunities (hydraulic mission) legitimizing the building of hydropower dams mainly originate outside of the river basins [1]. ...
... The specific target of this strategic goal is realizing a zero net 2 Wolaita and Dawro Zones belong to South Ethiopia and Southwest Ethiopia regiones respectively. 3 A kebele (Amharic: ቀበሌ, qäbäle, "neighborhood") is the smallest administrative unit in the Ethiopian federal state structure like a word, neighborhood, or a localized and delimited group of people (en.wikipedia.org). 4 Woreda or districts (also spelt woreda) are the third-level administrative divisions in Ethiopia's federal system. ...
Article
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Ethiopia is currently investing significantly in large scale-hydropower across its river basins. While serving the national economic agenda, hydropower dams have impacted local communities. This study aims to explore the essence of Ethiopia's hydraulic mission and how it accounts for the national-local trade-offs associated with the building of hydropower dams. It draws on an exploratory case study conducted on the Gibe III hydropower project in southern Ethiopia. Data collection involved key informant interviews, focus-group discussions held among project-impacted communities, and a review of three relevant policy documents. It was found that while the building of hydropower dams in Ethiopia is aimed at the national goal of realizing a Climate Resilient Green Economy, the discourses and practices of the hydraulic mission accompanying the building of hydropower dams reflected shortcomings that contributed to adverse socioeconomic impacts on local communities. The shortcomings concern the policy discourses and practices regarding the handling of local developmental aspirations in hydropower development, feasibility studies on hydropower projects; coordination and transparency among stakeholders involved in hydropower development; and hydropower benefit sharing across spatial scales. Given the prevailing discourse about their contribution in serving the twofold purpose of addressing energy poverty and the challenges of climate change, it is less likely to avoid the building of hydropower dams particularly in the Global South. Hence, the study suggests that exploring the possibility of reconciling the national-local trade-offs is of paramount importance rather than contending the construction of hydropower dams altogether.
... As a result, the Global South is experiencing something of a renaissance in the construction of mega-dam projects (Atkins & Hope, 2021), with hydropower projects projected to increase significantly in the coming years (Zarfl et al., 2015). The entry of Chinese multinationals (Siciliano et al., 2019) and private sector investors (Ahlers et al., 2015) is emblematic of the increasing globalization of infrastructure finance. Various actors, including the World Bank Group, have highlighted the importance of addressing a "global deficit in infrastructure" (Rodríguez et al., 2021). ...
Article
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Large-scale infrastructure projects often include government promises and visions designed to win the approval and support of affected populations and to attract much-needed funding for implementation. The promise of infrastructure leads to changes in the visions and aspirations of affected communities, and fuels anticipatory and speculative investment to tie one's future to the perceived benefits of the project. In this article, we explore the process of translating promises into materiality. The construction phase of megaprojects has received comparatively limited scholarly attention, yet it is critical for understanding the socio-technical and socio-political relations of infrastructure. Using the construction phase of the Thwake Dam in Kenya as a case study, we show how the stagnation, uncertainty, and irregularities that characterize the implementation of large dams lead to a decline in initially dynamic anticipatory investment, resulting in what we call the "non-economy of anticipation." We argue that the misuse of infrastructural promises and the opacity of project implementation lead to infrastructural violence long before the actual realization and apart from the materiality of the dam.
... Por ejemplo, según Martin Fearnside (2019) solo en la región de la Amazonía legal existen 17 represas que tienen diferentes impactos socioecológicos que van desde el desplazamiento y reasentamiento de comunidades, contaminación hídrica, relación con el cambio climático, el estancamiento de los ríos, alteraciones en las comunidades ícticas y reducción de pesca. En contraste con la tabla anterior, la producción de hidroenergía sufrió un estancamiento considerable entre los años 1999 y 2005, producto de la cuestionable relación entre sustentabilidad y producción hidroenergética; para después de este año realizar un repunte considerable en dicho mercado liderado por China (Siciliano et al., 2019;World Energy Council, 2015). Este país ha comandado los proyectos en esta línea que van paralelamente con su ascensión en la geopolítica y posicionamiento global. ...
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Como es bien sabido por nuestros lectores, la Cátedra Ambiental “Gonzalo Palomino Ortiz” de la Universidad del Tolima desarrolla su apuesta formativa y académica desde cuatro ejes problematizadores: pensamiento ambiental; saberes ecológicos; relaciones política, ambiente y desarrollo; problemas y conflictos ambientales. El volumen I de esta cátedra presentó de manera rigurosa las preguntas orientadoras y los parámetros epistemológicos de cada uno de estos componentes. El volumen II expuso algunos desarrollos conceptuales propios de cada eje y para este tercer volumen (volumen III) se presentan temáticas concretas que hacen parte de la reflexión permanente de nuestras clases, diplomados y publicaciones, en relación con situaciones ambientales del territorio propias de la formación en pensamiento ambiental que guía nuestro actuar. En consecuencia, el primer capítulo titulado “Ambientalizar la universidad: mutaciones necesarias frente a la crisis ambiental” de los autores Paula Milena Franco Jaramillo y Jorge Wilson Gómez Agudelo, desde el eje de pensamiento ambiental, ponen sobre la mesa la reflexión y discusión sobre la ambientalización de la universidad como posibilidad de una formación integral de cara a las realidades ambientales, en las cuales la educación superior está llamada a hacer, y de hecho lo hace, grandes aportes. Nos proponen la reflexión por medio de preguntas para pensar sobre lo qué es la universidad antes y después de la pandemia; el virus como metáfora del lenguaje, la cátedra ambiental como horizonte de la posible ambientalización en medio de un territorio en disputa. El segundo capítulo, de los autores Iván Darío Loaiza Campiño, Elizabeth García Lozano y Sandra Patricia Martínez Granada, titulado: “Comprensión de las pandemias desde la dinámica ecológica” hace parte del eje de saberes ecológicos, pone de relieve la necesidad de conocer la dinámica ecológica y en ella la zoonosis como posibilidad para comprender situaciones ambientales como las pandemias, en un texto informativo y reflexivo que llama la atención sobre el escaso conocimiento del fenómeno de la vida en el planeta, que muchas culturas tenemos en la actualidad, y el espacio que reclama este tipo de conocimiento hoy en día. Reafirma la visión de una ecología dialogante y compleja que atiende en red a dinámicas sociales, culturales y naturales y no se reduce a la biología clásica, sino que presenta una necesaria integralidad. El tercer capítulo titulado “Una breve aproximación para entender lo político, la política y su relación con lo ambiental en tiempos de crisis”, propuesto por los autores Jorge Mario Vera Rodríguez, Adriana Paola Albarracín Calderón y Érika Andrea Moreno Romero, hace parte del eje de relaciones política, ambiente y desarrollo; aborda algunas concepciones sobre la política, lo político y el poder, con el propósito de fijar algunos puntos básicos que contribuyan al entendimiento de estos en un sentido positivo, tomando distancia de la concepción negativa de la política como ejercicio del poder como dominación. De igual forma, se plantean las relaciones de poder como ámbitos de la política en lo ambiental, la cual se expresa en las formas que adopta el antagonismo o el agonismo (según la perspectiva de lo político) en la trama de relaciones entre actores que se enfrentan o cooperan en los procesos de apropiacióntransformación material o simbólica del ambiente. Finalmente, se abordan desde una perspectiva crítica las políticas públicas, en particular las ambientales, como mecanismos, escenarios y construcciones sociales en las que, de manera ideal, se pueden gestionar los daños, problemas y conflictos ambientales, a través de procesos de tensión/negociación entre actores con capacidades y relaciones de poder asimétricas. Para el cuarto capítulo denominado “Hidroeléctricas, hidroenergía y alteraciones del ciclo hidrosocial: una mirada crítica desde la ecología política”, su autor Yonathan Andrés Campo Ortiz, desde el eje de problemas y conflictos ambientales, coloca en discusión la relación existente entre la generación de energía a partir de hidroeléctricas y la alteración del ciclo hidrosocial desde el lente crítico de la ecología política. Por tanto, de manera inicial se desarrolla, de forma breve, el piso epistemológico de la ecología política para analizar dicha problemática. En un segundo momento, se realiza una contextualización internacional, nacional y local de la generación de hidroenergía para, a través de dichos elementos y con un tono crítico propio de la ecología política, abordar el ciclo hidrosocial, el hidropoder y la comunidad con relación a las hidroeléctricas y sus afectaciones territoriales. Los dos capítulos finales, a manera de propuesta, presentan posibilidades alternativas frente a la crisis existente; por una parte, lo que desde la universidad podemos empezar a hacer acompañando a las instituciones educativas en sus procesos de formación y acción en y desde la educación ambiental y, de otro lado, desde la apertura a procesos productivos sustentables como el de reconversión ganadera. Así, el quinto capítulo, de los autores Gloria Marcela Flórez, Jairo Andrés Velásquez Sarria, Jorge Mario Vera Rodríguez y Luis Hernando Amador Pineda, denominado: “El agua como elemento articulador de la educación ambiental en la escuela” propone brindar algunos elementos que soporten una lectura de contexto que reconozca la multidimensionalidad del agua y la situación crítica que se afronta con respecto a su acceso, uso, disfrute, significación, valoración y degradación en el municipio de Ibagué. Dicha lectura se orienta a posicionar la pertinencia del abordaje del agua como aspecto central en los Proyectos Ambientales Escolares (PRAE) de las instituciones educativas de Ibagué, en aras de trascender el activismo centrado en el reciclaje, limpieza de fuentes hídricas, conmemoración de fechas representativas relacionadas con temas ambientales o medidas básicas de ahorro y uso eficiente del preciado líquido. Finalmente, el sexto capítulo, propuesto por Carlos Eduardo Ramos Useche, titulado: “Reconversión ganadera en tiempos de crisis global” presenta una reflexión crítica a la ganadería convencional en el contexto nacional colombiano, tema que resulta un tanto estigmatizado en estos últimos tiempos en que, no solamente se viven transformaciones en la formas de concebir la vida misma, la naturaleza, la producción, la sociedad, entre otras, sino que además invita a transformar cosmovisiones y formas de pensar, incluyendo conceptos de desarrollo, democracia, riqueza y pobreza y de la relación sociedad-Estado, donde una crisis alimentaria podría estar por irrumpir a nivel global, catalizada de modo significativo por los fenómenos de cambio climático, crisis económica y la pandemia covid-19.
... In response, sustainable development has emerged as a framework to address these concerns, with environmental and economic dimensions receiving the most attention. However, the social dimension, particularly social sustainability, has recently gained greater prominence as researchers and policymakers increasingly recognize its importance in fostering equality, justice, and improved quality of life [4][5][6][7][8][9]. ...
Article
Full-text available
This study highlights the importance of social sustainability in the context of urban parks and evaluates its performance using a specific case study. It proposes a comprehensive measurement scale focused on eight dimensions: identity, sense of place, social cohesion, security and safety, equity, facilities, comfort, and accessibility, applied to Alaeddin Hill Park in Konya, Türkiye. Using a quantitative research approach and data collected from 120 participants, this study investigates these dimensions to understand their impact on the park’s social sustainability. The findings of this study reveal that, while Alaeddin Hill Park is highly valued for its identity, facilities, and social cohesion, it requires significant improvements in areas such as security and safety, sense of place, and comfort. Another finding indicates that lower-income respondents report higher levels of comfort and a stronger sense of identification with the park. This study offers practical recommendations for urban park design to improve user satisfaction and social sustainability.
... Por ejemplo, según Martin Fearnside (2019) solo en la región de la Amazonía legal existen 17 represas que tienen diferentes impactos socioecológicos que van desde el desplazamiento y reasentamiento de comunidades, contaminación hídrica, relación con el cambio climático, el estancamiento de los ríos, alteraciones en las comunidades ícticas y reducción de pesca. En contraste con la tabla anterior, la producción de hidroenergía sufrió un estancamiento considerable entre los años 1999 y 2005, producto de la cuestionable relación entre sustentabilidad y producción hidroenergética; para después de este año realizar un repunte considerable en dicho mercado liderado por China (Siciliano et al., 2019;World Energy Council, 2015). Este país ha comandado los proyectos en esta línea que van paralelamente con su ascensión en la geopolítica y posicionamiento global. ...
Book
Full-text available
El libro de texto Cátedra Ambiental “Gonzalo Palomino Ortiz” Vol. III muestra la madurez conceptual, reflexiva, crítica y propositiva que ha alcanzado el colectivo de profesores de esta asignatura electiva de la Universidad del Tolima. Muestra además la continuidad investigativa y las apuestas propositivas de estos profesores y colaboradores. En los diferentes capítulos es posible identificar claramente la perspectiva ambiental latinoamericana que ponen en tensión concepciones reduccionistas y antropocéntricas de lo ambiental; un pensar lo ambiental desde la universidad con la reflexión frente a la ambientalización, una crítica a los modos de habitar extractivistas y recursistas que objetivizan la naturaleza, entre otras tensiones; pero además se propone el texto en sus capítulos finales en la posibilidad de proponer y pensar alternativas a estos modelos que crean injusticia social y daños naturales a todo nivel. Estos textos se han ido construyendo en el marco de las clases, en conversaciones con los estudiantes y profesores y en el reconocimiento de la realidad del territorio.
... It is worth investigating how an uneven distribution affects the development of non-hydro RES-E, which must be associated with grid development in the transition toward the RES-E-based system. Environmental justice concerns and conflicts over large-scale dams remain unresolved even 20 years after the publication of the World Commission on Dams (Siciliano et al., 2019). ...
... There is much debate on what social, environmental and economics mean in sustainability research, for example, one may compare the different approaches of Godin et al. (2022) and Sareen and Nordholm (2021). We focus here specifically on the justice aspects of each term as used by others (Thaler et al. 2018;Siciliano et al. 2019;Laasasenaho et al. 2022) and when/how authors use them. In this way, sustainability justice research adopts a more integrated framework as compared to those concepts with narrower scopes, such as environmental justice, energy justice, just transition, and climate justice. ...
Article
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There is a growing importance of understanding the connection between sustainability and justice. We have conducted the first robust mixed-methods review of the burgeoning academic literature on sustainability justice. Our analysis spans literature from 2013 to 2023, drawn from the databases of Web of Science and Scopus. We use a scientometric approach to identify key literature for a more detailed qualitative analysis. This dual approach uncovers key trends and themes in sustainability justice. The review identifies works that delve into the themes of environmental, social, and economic justice, pinpointing a need to amplify Global South voices, narratives, and insights for a comprehensive understanding of sustainability justice. The findings indicate a pressing need for integrating economic aspects with social and environmental factors, advocating for more focus on transformative justice.
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Transboundary rivers raise critical concerns for state security amidst contemporary ecological strain and regional geopolitics in South Asia. The challenge of ‘water security’ is underscored by the substantial reliance on transboundary rivers, compounded by the multifaceted impacts of climate change and the simmering geopolitical tensions among riparian nations, especially in the complex dynamics between India–China and India–Pakistan. This study endeavours to illuminate distinctive characteristics of the South Asian transboundary governance framework, wherein rivers are subjected to intensive damming aimed at (a) harnessing hydroelectric potential and (b) leveraging water resources as geopolitical bargaining chips, thereby exerting pressure; however, order is not specified, particularly. In this intricate milieu, international conventions often fail to reconcile internal contradictions inherent within the transboundary governance paradigm. Consequently, transboundary water resources have metamorphosed into an extension of geopolitical realities, embodying intricate interplay between hydrology, geopolitics and state security within the region, especially between China, India and Pakistan.
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Energy transition technologies, such as hydroelectric dams, have been seen as symbols of progress, cheap energy, environmental sustainability, and resource abundance, leading to overestimating their benefits and underestimating their drawbacks. In this study, we use the tenets approach of energy justice and a qualitative case study to explore, from a multidimensional and multitemporal perspective, the impacts faced by the inhabitants of a community located downstream from the Belo Monte hydroelectric dam in Brazil. Through observations and in-depth interviews with fishers, data were collected at three points: during the late stage of construction (2016) and early operation (2017, 2019). We found that individuals confront multiple and diverse energy injustices at various stages of dam construction, and perceptions of their severity change over time. Thus, we show how the multidimensional and multitemporal perspectives are intertwined and point to the need for further multitemporal studies to better understand the impacts of energy transition efforts on communities.
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Vietnam has experienced rapid economic growth over the past few decades, as well as growing environmental pressures. The country is therefore pursuing strategies for green transformations, which are the processes of restructuring to bring economies and societies within the planetary boundaries. This article addresses the opportunities, barriers, and trade‐offs for green transformations in Vietnam's energy sector and examines them from an energy justice perspective. The article draws on in‐depths expert interviews with representatives from government agencies, private firms, academic institutions, and multilateral institutions in Vietnam. The article finds that Vietnam is undergoing efforts to move away from business as usual by promoting renewable energy and energy efficiency, as well as aligning energy and climate plans with national development priorities such as energy security and economic growth. Yet there is a need for more coordinated, integrated approaches and policies that span across the 3 areas that address green transformations in Vietnam: green growth, sustainable development, and climate change. Finally, although key actors seem to be aware and may be critical of major trade‐offs such as land grabs for energy projects, the impacts on affected people need to be better understood and mitigated.
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President Xi Jinping announced the above at the 19th Communist Party Congress as an affirmation that China had “arrived” as a great power in the world. With a population of 1.3 billion, China became the world’s second-largest economy and contributed 39 per cent to world growth in 2016, according to the International Monetary Fund (World Economic Forum 2017a). China is the largest investor in renewable energy, having invested more than USD 100 billion in 2015 (World Economic Forum 2017b). China also spearheaded the establishment of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), a global financing institution with 57 member countries, including developed countries such as the United Kingdom and Germany. With China’s increasing economic and diplomatic presences in the world, coupled with its directive of “Going Out,” which was intensified by the recent Belt Road Initiative (BRI), China’s rise will inevitably impact the world in terms of competition for resources, market share, and political influence. In particular, China’s insatiable appetite for natural resources to fuel its domestic growth and satisfy its energy needs has left an unparalleled and deepening footprint on the world’s environment (Liu and Diamond 2005; Mol 2011).
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This paper investigates from a socio-technical and energy justice perspective the lack of coordination of international, national and local developmental priorities and inclusion of local needs in the decision making process of large dam construction in the global South. The paper argues that the analysis of energy infrastructures as socio-technical systems requires an energy justice approach to capture the true environmental and social nature of energy production and consumption. In doing so, this paper proposes a conceptual framework called “The Energy Justice Framework for Dam Decision-Making” as a tool to inform energy decisions on infrastructure development based on energy justice principles and social impact assessment. The proposed framework is used in this paper to analyse distributional, procedural, restorative justice, and power relations throughout the entire dams’ energy system in the case of four large dams located in Africa and Asia, namely Kamchay dam in Cambodia, Bakun dam in Malaysia, Bui dam in Ghana and the planned Zamfara dam in Nigeria.
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The present article analyses a unique database of 220 dam-related environmental conflicts, retrieved from the Global Atlas on Environmental Justice (EJAtlas), and based on knowledge co-production between academics and activists. Despite well-known controversial, social, and environmental impacts of dams, efforts to increase renewable energy generation have reinstated the interest into hydropower development globally. People affected by dams have largely denounced such ‘unsustainabilities’ through collective non-violent actions. Nevertheless, we found that repression, criminalization, violent targeting of activists and assassinations are recurrent features of conflictive dams. Violent repression is particularly high when indigenous people are involved. Indirect forms of violence are also analysed through socio-economic, environmental, and health impacts. We argue that increasing repression of the opposition against unwanted energy infrastructures does not only serve to curb specific protest actions, but also aims to delegitimize and undermine differing understanding of sustainability, epistemologies, and world views. This analysis cautions that allegedly sustainable renewables such as hydropower often replicates patterns of violence within a frame of an ‘extractivism of renewables’. We finally suggest that co-production of knowledge between scientists, activists, and communities should be largely encouraged to investigate sensitive and contentious topics in sustainability studies.
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Can ecological distribution conflicts turn into forces for sustainability? This overview paper addresses in a systematic conceptual manner the question of why, through whom, how, and when conflicts over the use of the environment may take an active role in shaping transitions toward sustainability. It presents a conceptual framework that schematically maps out the linkages between (a) patterns of (unsustainable) social metabolism, (b) the emergence of ecological distribution conflicts, (c) the rise of environmental justice movements, and (d) their potential contributions for sustainability transitions. The ways how these four processes can influence each other are multi-faceted and often not a foretold story. Yet, ecological distribution conflicts can have an important role for sustainability, because they relentlessly bring to light conflicting values over the environment as well as unsustainable resource uses affecting people and the planet. Environmental justice movements, born out of such conflicts, become key actors in politicizing such unsustainable resource uses, but moreover, they take sometimes also radical actions to stop them. By drawing on creative forms of mobilizations and diverse repertoires of action to effectively reduce unsustainabilities, they can turn from ‘victims’ of environmental injustices into ‘warriors’ for sustainability. But when will improvements in sustainability be lasting? By looking at the overall dynamics between the four processes, we aim to foster a more systematic understanding of the dynamics and roles of ecological distribution conflicts within sustainability processes.
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Chinese dam developers claim to construct at least every second dam worldwide. However, scholarly literature comprehensively investigating the social safeguard norms in these projects is rare. This paper analyses social safeguard norms in Chinese-led dam projects in Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia, hotspots of Chinese-led dam construction. We find that social safeguard norms adopted have significantly changed in the past 15 years. While Chinese dam developers claimed to adopt standards of the host countries upon the launch of China's Going Out Policy in 2001, with occasional adoption of more demanding Chinese standards, they did not adopt international norms. In recent years, however, they increasingly take into account international norms. We argue that the root cause for this change is social mobilization, with the suspension of the Myitsone Dam in 2011 as a particular game changer. Enhanced social safeguard legislation in host countries and China, stricter rules of Chinese funders and cooperation of Chinese dam developers with international players have also facilitated this change.
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Environmental justice frameworks predominantly focus on exploration of socio-environmental inequalities faced by racial, ethnic, religious, cultural and low-income groups. This article aims to expand this mainstream focus of the environmental justice concept on these groups by conceptualising urban/rural division as a group difference, based on which rural communities face with socio-environmental burdens of environmental policies in relation to their urban counterparts. It is based on the analysis of Turkey’s small-scale hydroelectricity power plant (HPP) development policies, referring to the planning and constructions of approximately 1500 hydropower plants across the country, along with country’s modernist agenda, i.e. achievement of economic development, social progress and urban transformation of Turkey. These power plants are also strongly associated with numerous socio-economic, environmental and cultural impacts on local rural communities and local environments with dozens of local opposition movements, while favouring needs, interests and lifestyles of urban communities. This point deserves a systematic conceptualisation within the environmental justice frameworks as it helps to further explain deep causes of socio-environmental inequalities particularly in developing country contexts. Thus, this article is built on such a conceptualisation arguing the necessity to integrate urban/rural division as a separate group difference to environmental justice frameworks by examining modernisation and urbanisation nexus in Turkey’s small-scale HPP development process.
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Regional economic integration has become the dominant development pathway promoted, endorsed, and followed by many developing country governments in South East Asia and globally. Focusing on hydropower development, this article shows how forces of globalization manifested in the Myanmar government’s strategies to promote economic growth are shaping the Salween River basin’s development trajectory. Contesting the general belief that economic development would help the country’s transition to full democracy and achieve peace, it illustrates how hydropower development plans in the basin are closely interlinked with human rights issues. Well known for its long histories of violent conflict involving the Myanmar military and ethnic armed groups in various states, hydropower development in the Salween River is not only linked to the ongoing peace process in Myanmar but could also have direct implications on the actual significance of the process. Despite the signing of nationwide ceasefire agreements in 2012, hydropower dam projects could contribute to and trigger reoccurrences of violent armed conflict. Recognizing this conflict-prone and politically fragile condition as the main characteristics of Salween water governance is essential if we are to strive for sustainable and just development.