Assessing elements of energy justice in Colombia: A case study on transmission infrastructure in La Guajira

Abstract

The United Nations declaration of a climate urgency in 2020 has intensified the need for change in energy systems across the world. This has resulted in political attention increasingly shifting to the development of low-carbon energy infrastructure. In the case of Colombia, the energy transition has brought a focus on the La Guajira region for its potential wind energy resources and the associated need for new transmission infrastructure. La Guajira is characterised by an extractive-based economy, poor socioeconomic performance and a large indigenous population. This research uses the energy justice framework to examine the justice dynamics that affect the acceptance of a proposed transmission line project. With a special focus on procedural, distributive and recognition justice, the findings that are also based on semi-structured interviews reveal interrelated equity concerns. They further highlight that recognition justice can be an underpinning force of a just transition to a low-carbon economy. The research results follow previous research but also significantly demonstrates that the roles of community advisors and experts are influential. They can foster or block energy justice. Further, this study provides evidence that the ongoing energy transition has a major hurdle of procedural justice through social acceptance. This has occurred mainly due to the legacy effects of the operations of conventional energy sources in the region. This advances the case that to achieve a just transition to a low-carbon economy, unjust legacy policies and actions of the fossil fuel industry have to be addressed.