Just energy transition in Amazonia and the hydropower plants

Abstract

The effects of climate change have been studied and publicized by experts, civil society movements and organizations, international organizations, and felt in different ways around the world. To combat climate change, an energy transition to renewable sources is necessary, in addition to other policies and measures, including combating deforestation and forest degradation. In the Amazon, the energy transition has driven the expansion of hydroelectricity, in some cases, such as in Brazil, the region being considered the new energy frontier. However, the energy transition cannot ignore social inequalities and environmental impacts, it needs to be just, leaving no one behind. And this challenge of a just transition that faces the Amazon region, a provider of hydroelectric energy, but with a large part of its population without access to energy, or with access to energy from thermoelectric plants. This article seeks to discuss the challenges of a just energy transition in the Amazon, taking into account the difficulty of accessing energy in the region and the expansion of hydroelectricity, with its socio-environmental impacts.