What are the land corruption risks involved with the green energy sector? Which anti-corruption measures are recommended to put into place to prevent or mitigate these challenges?
Green energy (and/or renewable energy) requires large areas of land to operate, often more so than energy generated from fossil fuels. The acquisition of land comes with accompanying corruption risks which can lead to challenges such as land grabbing and illegal displacement of communities. To help mitigate corruption risks and their consequences, strong regulatory oversight and rigorous licensing requirements are needed, as well as transparency and community-based approaches to ownership of green energy projects.
Contents
Background
Land corruption in the green energy transition
Corruption risks in the green energy sector
Non-compliance with regulations and standards
Bribery, embezzlement and kickbacks
The impact of corruption risks in the green energy sector
Land grabbing
The displacement of affected communities
Measures to prevent and respond to corruption risks
Political will
Strong regulatory oversight and rigorous licensing requirements
Documenting land ownership
The participation of communities and community ownership of projects