GWO was part of the international panel of experts on wind energy in Italy, at the Conference on Fragile Territories

• by OEGA
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40 participants from various European countries joined the new edition (23 and 24 October) of the Conference on Fragile Territories organized by the University of Trieste, the University of Pádova and the Aree Fragili Associazione.
On Saturday, the seminar entitled “The energy of the Wind” took place under the coordination of Ivano Scotti (Università di Pisa). Rosa Lehmann from the University of Jena (Germany) participated in the seminar with the presentation entitled “Wind energy development in southern Mexico: socio-ecological inequalities and perspectives for energy justice.” Professor Lehmann showed the contradictions between the occupation of wind farms by international companies – many of them Spanish – and the lack of recognition concerning the rights of local communities – many of them indigenous – for the case of wind development in Mexico. She also showed how wind turbines and other wind farm facilities occupy lands of high ecological value and their close proximity to homes in residential areas.

Samadhi Lipari, Italian researcher at the University of Leeds, gave a very interesting presentation under the title “Territorialized accumulation and uneven development around renewable energies in Europe: two cases”. Samadhi Lipari showed how the penetration of green capitalism is depreciating agricultural and rural lands, making them cheaper and promoting the growth of renewable energies through the commercialization of the rural environment without the participation of local communities.
Finally, Xavier Simón, representing the Galician Wind Observatory, presented the communication “Renewables Transition and Energy Justice: the Wind Farms in Galiza”. In his presentation, he stated that he wondered if producing electricity with low CO2 emissions was enough or whether, in addition to this, we must always consider the need to make access to renewable energy more equal and democratic. He showed how public participation is almost nil and community participation is extremely marginal in the case of wind generation in Galicia. “It is not enough”, said Simón, “to be glad to have an energy structure in which, as in 2019, almost 90% of the demand for electricity came from renewables. Rural communities must be given much greater prominence”.
After several questions from the audience, the participants expressed their own personal desire, as well as that of their institutions, to seek spaces for collaboration in the field of renewable energy and promote the role of energy communities as central actors in its development.