Presentation short abstract

Engaging with a post-Marxist political approach ecology we discuss how renewable energy projects in North Africa reshape territories and spark contestation. Looking at cases from Western Sahara to Egypt, we show how wind and solar energy expansion reproduce extractivist logics of dispossession.

Presentation long abstract

Addressing the questions of this panel, this presentation critically examines the expanding extractivist frontiers in North Africa, driven by narratives of green transitions sustainable development. It explores the complex dynamics between renewable energy projects and local contestations led by environmental defenders and self-determination movements. The rapid growth of wind and solar infrastructure, framed as part of green energy transitions, raises urgent questions about land rights, environmental justice, and the resurgence of neo-colonial power relations.

Drawing on examples from Western Sahara to Egypt, including Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia, the presentation highlights how local communities contest renewable energy expansion and the territorial reconfigurations it brings. Research shows many projects proceed without indigenous consent, undermining rights to sovereignty and resource control. This exclusion perpetuates colonial legacies and denies basic human rights. In some cases, climate rhetoric is used to justify illegal occupations, enabling “greenwashing” of territorial control and masking exploitation with the complicity of States in the region.

The presentation addresses two broad questions: (a) How do renewable energy projects reshape socio-ecological landscapes and territories in North Africa? (b) What are the diverse local responses and contestations? Specifically, how does wind and solar energy expansion transform land-use practices, governance, and self-determination within green extractivism? Using a post-Marxist political ecology and a decolonial lens, the discussion will aim to challenge dominant narratives and contribute to alternative imaginaries of sustainable development in the region.