What are the rights implications of wind energy?

As pressure builds to limit the global rise in temperature at or below 1.5 degrees Celsius by 2050, investment in sustainable technologies is increasing economies of scale and shaping more competitive supply chains. This can be seen in the costs of electricity generated by solar power falling by 85% since 2010, and onshore and offshore wind costs declining by 50% over the same period. The enormous challenge of meeting net zero ambitions is dependent on the continued growth of renewable energy, including on and off-shore wind power.

However, the urgent expectations for growth in wind energy projects has also seen a parallel resurgence in historical forms of dispossession against indigenous communities as well as human rights violations of workers and communities in wind project supply chains both in the resource extraction phase, during planning and construction, and operation. Understanding the risks associated with the expansion of wind power projects, and how a just transition can be ensured, is thus crucial as the pace of investment continues to increase.

Several materials and minerals used for wind power projects are associated with human rights risks: 

• Copper and cobalt: Copper is a foundational element used in the coil windings, cable conductors and transformer coils of wind energy technologies while cobalt is used for the large batteries that store the wind energy. Both cobalt and copper mines are often located on sites of potential conflict and rights violations. The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has more than half of the world’s cobalt reserves and human rights issues with cobalt mining there have been widely reported. Miners in artisanal cobalt mines do not have protective clothing or equipment and are often descending into unstable mines with their bare hands, and there are also reports of workers’ rights (such as the payment of a living wage) being violated in larger company-run mines. The mines, trucks and processing facilities related to cobalt extraction cause fumes, noise and dust, affecting communities close to mine sites. Similarly, copper mining in Peru was set up with poor environmental assessments, leading to community pushback and a protracted conflict that has resulted in several deaths of human rights defenders since 2011.
• Balsa wood: Ecuador is the world’s largest exporter of balsa wood, a lightweight material used in wind turbine blades. Due to increasing demand for wind power projects, balsa wood logging has intensified and plantation has rapidly expanded into illegal logging practices. This rapid exploitation has also led to the intrusion and possession of parts of the Amazon rainforest belonging to indigenous communities such as the Wampis Nation territories. The impact of deforestation on the local ecosystem threatens the survival and dignity of the indigenous communities as the forest is critical to their religious beliefs and practices. There have also been reports of human trafficking and increased drug use linked to the logging of balsa wood, as loggers often plant illegal crops such as coca and marijuana.
• Lithium: The vast majority of lithium, used in batteries for wind energy systems, comes from the “Lithium triangle” which spans areas of Chile, Argentina and Bolivia. Lithium extraction requires large amounts of water, and the extraction of lithium leaves behind salt and toxic chemicals reducing the availability of fresh water. Not only does this violate the right to water for local indigenous communities, the lack of water means that local crops and animals struggle to survive, threatening indigenous groups who rely on food production, artisanal salt harvesting and wool textiles for both their physical and cultural survival.

Indigenous and non-indigenous local communities are adversely impacted by land-grabbing for the construction of wind projects. Some of the key issues, which overlap with the issues identified above, include:

• the lack of meaningful free, prior and informed consent (FPIC);
• displacement of communities and loss of livelihoods;
• violence, intimidation and threats; and
• the violation of labour rights.

The nature of adverse human rights impacts linked to wind energy differs between countries. For example:

• In Sweden and Norway, where the indigenous Sami have lived in the northern regions for millennia, rapidly expanding wind farm developments are threatening reindeer husbandry. Wind turbines have been illegally built on the grazing lands of the Sami reindeer herders, scaring reindeer off those lands. Reindeer herding is not only a crucial economic industry for the Sami, but is also a critical part of the Sami culture and identity. In 2021, the Norwegian Supreme Court ruled that “there was no question of a collision between environmental considerations and the reindeer owners’ right to cultural practice.”
• In Mexico, there are 14 current and several planned wind farm developments in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec region, home to a large indigenous population who communally own large areas of land. Not only have companies illegally constructed on indigenous lands,  they failed to conduct meaningful consultation. Any consent that was obtained was manipulated, as companies often did not have an interpreter present during consultations and they did not make important documents available for the affected communities to read before providing consent. Human rights defenders and community leaders who defended their lands from such developments were met with violence, intimidation and threats which led to the deaths of many community members. Profits from the wind farms are not equitably distributed. Employment for locals are premised on short-term contracts only until the construction is completed, at which point they become unemployed and the remainder of the work is carried out by engineers. 

All businesses involved in wind energy development - from financial institutions, investors, project developers, engineering firms, and large purchasers of wind energy should respect human rights in accordance with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and ensure that they are conducting meaningful human rights due diligence in their operations.

If the rapid growth of wind energy is not balanced with rights-respecting practices, it can also create costs to the business - whether that be in litigation fees, the payment of damages, reputational costs, community resistance and, in some cases, the cancellation of projects altogether:

• The Supreme Court in Norway ruled the licences of Fosen Vind invalid in 2021 due to the threats to the rights of the Sami herders (see above). The court found that two of the wind farms, in Storheia and Roan, violated Sami indigenous rights under Article 27 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).
• In Mexico, a large-scale wind farm was planned in Oaxaca by the French energy giant EDF. Local indigenous communities were not consulted, and following legal proceedings over five years, in national and international courts, the Mexican state cancelled the contracts with EDF, rendering the project inviable.

When executed in a manner that is rights-respecting and in meaningful partnership with affected communities, wind farm projects present an opportunity for access to clean renewable energy that has positive impacts on workers, indigenous communities and the environment. For benefit sharing and community involvement to take place, it is important that there are robust legal and institutional frameworks to support indigenous rights and the right to FPIC in particular. Canada is a beacon of several successful examples of First Nation communities that are involved in wind power projects.

To read more about community involvement and benefit sharing click here.

Related IHRB resources:

• What is Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC)? December 12, 2022
• COP27 Dialogue on Business, Human Rights, and Climate Action across the Wind Energy Sector November 10, 2022
• A Just Transition for Communities: Can Wind and Solar Projects Turn Human Rights Lessons into Leadership? August 09, 2022
• Harnessing Coastal Wind Energy Responsibly: Community Rights and Benefits August 08, 2022
• Financing the Just Transition - Exploring the Human Rights Value Add December 18, 2020