Indigenous Peoples and a Just Energy Transition: Voices from Latin America

Latin America is home to more than 800 Indigenous Peoples, totaling around 58 million people, about 10% of the region’s population. Many face poverty, exclusion and limited access to basic services and technology. In this context of persistent inequality, their meaningful participation in energy transition processes is not only necessary, it’s urgent. This is especially true given the alarming shrinking of civic space, which increasingly impacts their ability to be heard and represented.

Governance models for natural resources must evolve to be more inclusive and sustainable. This means not only creating space for Indigenous participation but also ensuring their ability to influence decision-making. Their participation should contribute to reversing historical inequities and transform the structures that long marginalized them by recognizing and integrating their perspectives and knowledge in resource management and the energy transition.

At NRGI, we believe strengthening understanding of Indigenous perspectives is essential in the context of the global energy transition. We also recognize and deeply respect the important work that many civil society organizations have carried out for many years. That’s why we convened Indigenous leaders and civil society representatives to explore in greater depth the role of Indigenous Peoples in Latin America's energy transition. 

This summary highlights key themes and insights from that important conversation.

An energy transition that increases pressure on Latin America

Latin America has long been a key destinations for investment in extractive industries. Countries like Peru, Colombia, Mexico and Chile rely heavily on intensive natural resource extraction to support their economic development. However, this model is under growing strain as the global climate crisis deepens. The year 2024 was the hottest on record and the first to exceed 1.5°C of average global warming. This milestone underscores the urgency of accelerating the energy transition, a process that, rather than relieving pressure on Latin America, may increase it by driving up demand for critical minerals.

Global copper demand, for example, is projected to double by 2035, due to its strategic role in developing energy transition infrastructure. Lithium, essential for producing batteries for electric vehicles and energy storage systems, would need a ninefold increase in production by 2040 to meet net-zero emissions targets by 2050.

Rising demand for transition minerals could widen the supply-demand gap, intensify pressure on producing countries, spark new social and environmental tensions, and further expose weaknesses in regulatory frameworks. At the same time, this positions countries in the region as strategic actors in global decarbonization efforts. To maximize benefits and mitigate risks, strong governance, long-term vision, and a genuinely just transition are essential. That means centering Indigenous perspectives and addressing their expectations in the face of the new extractive cycle that is on the horizon.

Indigenous perspectives: rethinking the transition from the ground up

NRGI’s event aimed not only to identify the challenges and opportunities for achieving a just, inclusive energy transition that respects Indigenous rights and realities, but also to foster collective learning within the organization globally and among NRGI’s regional partners and allies. Participants included Mayra Macedo of the National Organization of Andean and Amazonian Indigenous Women of Peru (Onamiap); Sonia Mutumbajoy of the Association of Indigenous Women of Colombia (Asomi); Apu Miguel Guimaraes of the Interethnic Association for the Development of the Peruvian Rainforest (Aidesep); and Denisse Linares of the NGO Law, Environment and Natural Resources (DAR).

The right to land, one of the most sensitive issues for Indigenous communities, was at the heart of the conversation. Indigenous territories, seen as vital and culturally significant spaces, have historically been excluded from formal decision-making processes. In many cases, prior consultation mechanisms have failed to ensure free, prior and informed consent. Instead, they have often been used instead to legitimize projects that undermine self-determination.

As Sonia Mutumbajoy put it, “Prior consultation is being used to legitimize the presence of companies in Indigenous territories and push forward extraction projects without real consideration. (…) They invite us to these processes just so we’ll say yes, because saying no isn’t really an option. In the end, projects are imposed despite the will of Indigenous Peoples.” This underscores the need to guarantee the right of Indigenous communities to define their own energy models, aligned with their worldviews, priorities and organizational structures.

The current energy transition in Latin America risks reproducing the same extractivist logic that has historically harmed the most vulnerable populations. From the ground up, Indigenous voices are challenging the idea of a transition limited to swapping fossil fuels for renewables, without rethinking the underlying models of production, consumption, and energy governance. A truly just transition requires more than an energy matrix swap, it demands structural transformation to address inequality, exclusion, and environmental degradation.

“The expansion of so-called ‘green’ technologies like solar panels or lithium batteries cannot be justified if it continues the same model of resource-intensive extraction, without public participation or repair for the damage caused by decades of extractivism,” said Mayra Macedo. The risk of replacing fossil extractivism with “renewable” extractivism, without a real paradigm shift, is high and could lead to equally destructive consequences for ecosystems and Indigenous cultures.

Beyond a technological transition: a paradigm shift

We must urgently rethink the concept of energy, not just as a market commodity, but as a common good essential to realizing human rights and securing a dignified life. Today, access to energy remains deeply unequal. While some Indigenous communities bear the brunt of mining, hydroelectric or oil projects in their territories, many still lack access to electricity or have only unreliable service.

“For example, in my community, we live near a transmission line from the Mantaro hydroelectric plant; yet the Shiwilu people don’t benefit from the service. They deforested a large area, and we don’t even have electricity. Maybe one or two days a week, and then nothing,” explained Mayra Macedo. She added, “We continue to live in a colonized world, where large corporations create needs that are foreign to our ancestral ways of life, making us consumers and dependent.” 

This contradiction highlights the urgent need for people-centered energy planning that prioritizes closing historical gaps and upholds Indigenous autonomy over their territories.

Justice and reparation as pillars of the transition

Another critical issue is the environmental and social debt left by decades of oil and mining activity, especially in the Amazon. Indigenous communities are still living with the consequences: unremediated environmental damage, lack of basic services, and the absence of formal land titles. There can be no just transition without repairing these harms, without environmental justice and full rights protections.

Denisse Linares emphasized that collaboration between civil society and Indigenous organizations is key to building an inclusive transition. Coordinated efforts are needed to influence energy planning, strengthen territorial governance, promote community energy models, remediate environmental liabilities, and ensure fair financing mechanisms and public services. Existing experiences in some territories show that it is possible to build sustainable energy solutions locally, when Indigenous voices and knowledge are respected and human rights are at the center.

Indigenous territories are not sacrifice zones to fuel the promise of a green future. They are spaces of life, resistance, and wisdom, with much to contribute to building more sustainable and equitable models. Incorporating their voices, respecting their decisions, and learning from their relationships with nature are essential steps toward a truly just energy transition. This transition must not be merely technical, it must be deeply political, social, and cultural.

The task ahead is significant. It calls for challenging privilege, redistributing power and reimagining how we think about development and energy. But it also presents an opportunity—to heal historical wounds, build alliances, and envision futures where climate, social and environmental justice go hand in hand.

At NRGI, we remain committed to creating spaces for these vital conversations. We believe that a just energy transition requires the active and full participation and recognition of Indigenous Peoples as key actors in shaping the path forward.