Land corruption risks in the green energy sector

This Anti-Corruption Helpdesk brief was produced in response to a query from a U4 Partner Agency. The U4 Helpdesk is operated by Transparency International in collaboration with the U4 Anti-Corruption Resource Centre based at the Chr. Michelsen Institute.

Query

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

1. Background
   1. Land corruption in the green energy transition
2. Corruption risks in the green energy sector
   1. Non-compliance with regulations and standards
   2. Bribery, embezzlement and kickbacks
3. The impact of corruption risks in the green energy sector
   1. Land grabbing
   2. The displacement of affected communities
4. Measures to prevent and respond to corruption risks
   1. Political will
   2. Strong regulatory oversight and rigorous licensing requirements
   3. Documenting land ownership
   4. The participation of communities and community ownership of projects
   5. The leasing of land
   6. Transparency of green energy land deals
5. References

Authors

Caitlin Maslen (TI)

[email protected]

Reviewers

Aled Williams and Saul Mullard (U4)

Alice Stevens and Gvantsa Gverdtsiteli (TI)

Date

11/12/2023

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