Presentation short abstract

The presentation will discuss solar parks in Brazil, which through simplified licensing and limited consultation marginalize local communities, driving deforestation and threatening sociobiodiversity. Dominant market narratives perpetuate colonial power and extractive development.

Presentation long abstract

The energy transition has fueled rapid growth in renewable energy projects around the world, and the number of solar farm initiatives has increased as part of national and local strategies for decarbonization, often promoted as drivers of sustainable development and progress. In the state of Minas Gerais, in Brazil, these projects are implemented through simplified licensing and limited consultation, frequently disconnecting decision‑making from affected communities and enabling deforestation that threatens local sociobiodiversity chains. The implementation of these projects raises critical justice concerns, as dominant governance frameworks and corporate practices, which include institutional capture of local governments and public funding from the Brazilian development bank, risk perpetuating colonial power structures and undermining the self-determination of agrarian reform beneficiaries and traditional communities. This study draws on environmental justice, just transition, and decolonial political ecology frameworks to examine how solar park development in Minas Gerais engages or marginalizes local knowledge, participation, and rights. Employing document analysis, satellite imagery, and semi-structured interviews, the study reveals how dominant sustainability narratives, embedded in market-friendly governance frameworks and discourses of progress, obscure local worldviews and perpetuate colonial and extractive models of rural development. The findings highlight that a just rural energy transition requires not only technical and regulatory innovation but also a reconfiguration of power relations and epistemologies to uphold human rights and promote inclusive governance. This study contributes to critical debates on renewable energy governance in the Global South, providing insights on incorporating plural knowledge systems and fostering self-determination in renewable infrastructure development.