Procedural dimensions of wind farm expansion in Greece: Between “sustainable” energy politics and environmental injustice

Abstract

Over the last years wind farms are proliferating across Greece, promoted by the central policy as a sustainable solution for low-carbon energy transition and climate change mitigation. At the same time, it has been argued that the dominant neoliberal “green” energy policies contradict biodiversity and nature conservation with the scope to facilitate private capital accumulation. In this context, the development of renewable energy megaprojects under market-based governance raises questions about the uneven distribution of economic and environmental costs and benefits, but also about the insufficient inclusion of local communities in the decision-making process. This paper focuses on the procedural aspects of the state-led wind park expansion in Greece and examines the role of local actors in the policy-making and planning processes. For this purpose, it analyzes 1) the Greek institutional framework on RES, in parallel to 2) the case study of an under-development wind energy megaproject within protected natural sites on the island of Ikaria.

The analysis follows the perspective of political ecology, highlighting the political nature of renewable energy deployment and considering the related socio-environmental issues as a potential terrain for reclaiming democracy and equity (Swyngedouw 2010). Drawing upon literature on environmental justice and social sustainability (Bostrom 2012; Walker 2009), the procedural notion of justice is outlined and the contested term of sustainability and its social dimensions are discussed. Following Agyeman’s understanding of “just sustainability” (Agyeman 2008), the principles of justice in the dominant RES policy trend in Greece and the sustainable character of the examined megaproject in Ikaria are questioned, by means of a qualitative research approach. The methodology includes the document review of the key legislation and regulatory framework for RES in Greece with emphasis on the governance aspects (public deliberations, licensing procedures, etc.), complemented by a review of the local press regarding the emerging conflict in Ikaria. The lack of possibilities for local participation, as detected in the case study, derives from the wider institutional structures. From the policy-making level up to the licensing and environmental assessment of each project, no adequate inclusion mechanisms have been developed to date, while the multiple simplifications of the approval and planning procedures minimize the voice of local stakeholders for the sake of accelerating investment and development processes. Summarizing, adopting the idea that environmental quality is inseparable from human equality, the aim of the paper is to stress the active involvement of local communities in decision-making processes as a crucial factor in building equitable energy transition systems and equitable socio-environmental futures.