- Southeast Asia is in the midst of a drive to derive 35% of its energy from renewable sources by 2025.
- However, a new report warns that wind and solar firms operating in the region lack policies to protect environmental defenders and internationally recognized human rights standards.
- The findings indicate firms are particularly deficient in pledges to respect the rights of Indigenous peoples, a finding of concern given the intensity of pressure on IP lands for extraction of transition minerals.
- Environmental defenders, climate activists and vulnerable communities are increasingly experiencing threats, attacks and judicial harassment in the region.
Widely regarded as a solution for climate change, renewable energy projects are booming in Southeast Asia. Installed solar and wind energy capacity across the 10 member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) surged by 20% in 2023 to account for 9% of the region’s total energy mix.
But while renewables have the potential to stem the demand for fossil fuels, a new report shows that wind and solar companies operating in Southeast Asia could be doing more to ensure they aren’t having unintended impacts on people’s rights and lives.
The integrity of wind and solar companies’ human rights policies and practices was the topic of a recent investigation by the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre (BHRRC), a U.K.-based private sector watchdog.
Researchers scrutinized the guiding principles of 12 energy companies operating in Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines, finding all companies lacked policies to protect the human rights of environmental defenders. Many also fell short on commitments to respect the human rights of communities affected by their operations.
“Southeast Asia has shown a clear commitment to the green energy transition,” said Pochoy Labog, BHRRC’s Southeast Asia researcher. “However, these efforts risk being undermined by the serious human rights risks associated with these operations, which have not been prioritised by renewable energy companies.”
Environmental defenders and academics engaging with the energy sector increasingly experience threats, attacks and judicial harassment in many parts of the region. In Vietnam, the country with the largest share of operating solar and wind capacity in Southeast Asia, for instance, six climate activists have been imprisoned since 2021 due to their work advocating for the country’s transition away from coal-based energy.
The findings for companies operating in the Philippines, a country ranked among the most dangerous places in the Asia for environmental defenders, were stark. Several prominent companies in the country, including ACEN and Solar Philippines, were found to lack commitments on internationally recognized human rights.
Communities and vulnerable groups living in areas where renewable energy projects are developed are also at risk. Just three companies — ACEN, B Grimm and Singapore-based Vena Energy — claim to have processes in place to engage with representatives of the communities affected by their operations. Vena Energy, however, has received heavy backlash from civil society organizations who criticized the lack of public consultation on the firm’s construction of a wind farm inside the Masungi Georeserve in the Philippines.
Although the energy transition toward renewable sources is essential, Labog said the report’s findings underscore that the private sector must do more to avoid unintended social and ecological consequences. The transition must not come at the expense of environmental defenders and vulnerable communities affected by new infrastructure, he added.
“Companies must urgently adopt a zero-tolerance policy to protect human rights and environmental defenders from threats, violence, surveillance, and physical or legal attacks,” Labog said.
Only two of the companies analyzed, ACEN and Thailand-based B Grimm, make explicit commitments to respect Indigenous peoples’ rights. This is a particularly concerning shortcoming, the report notes, given that more than half of the world’s transition minerals — a group of 30 metals and minerals, such as lithium, cobalt, nickel and copper used in electric cars, solar panels and wind turbines — are found in Indigenous territories.
Mining for transition minerals was linked to hundreds of allegations of abuses against Indigenous people in a 2023 study, prompting calls from activists to center Indigenous rights to free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) in clean-energy plans.
“At the very least, renewable energy companies must publicly commit to respecting Indigenous Peoples’ rights in line with the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples,” Labog said, adding that this implies firms fully respect IP land rights and FPIC consenting procedures.
It’s in the interest of energy companies to uphold the highest human rights standards in their business practices, Labog said. The ultimate success of the global energy transition will very much depend on public and investor support, he said, something that risks being lost if projects are delayed due to conflict and litigation.
“Legal cases brought against the private sector in transition mineral mining and renewable energy sectors do not seek to challenge the transition itself, but to address a wide range of harms, including environmental abuses, water pollution, access to water and abuse of Indigenous Peoples’ rights,” he said. “Business models must be transformed to deliver a just transition which is to the benefit of companies, investors and local communities.
Carolyn Cowan is a staff writer for Mongabay. Follow her on 𝕏, @CarolynCowan11.
Banner image: Wind turbines as tall as a 30-story building at a wind farm in North America. Image by Allan Der via Creative Commons (CC BY 2.0).
See related story:
As wind, solar farms expand in Brazil, space for traditional communities shrinks
FEEDBACK: Use this form to send a message to the author of this post. If you want to post a public comment, you can do that at the bottom of the page.
Credits
