Conflicts over land for renewable energy projects in Sub-Saharan Africa: Can they be prevented through pre-emptive conflict mediation? (Henry Mooney)
Theme(s): Decoupling and Resource FlowsProject Leader(s):
This research begins with a literature review of the mechanics of land grabbing for large-scale renewable energy projects, drawing on a multitude of literature surrounding Sub-Saharan African land tenure, trends in global renewable energy development, trends in land grabbing and multi-stakeholder collaboration processes. Additionally, the importance of renewable energy for sustainable industrialization, national and urban energy policy trends, conflict, multi-stakeholder processes (MSPs) and the relationships between these different fields of study are discussed.
This research evaluates conflict over land usage, tenure, and transformation with regard to large-scale renewable energy projects as a result in an apparent trend in the interpretability of land law in much of Sub-Saharan Africa. Additionally, this research aims to provide suggestions for when decentralized renewable energy gains more momentum in more African countries in the near future. The objective is to explore national and local land tenure structure, the mechanisms of land grabs and renewable energy project development, and social impacts and potential conflict which result.
