The coloniality of ecological modernization

The coloniality of ecological modernization

Noura Alkhalili, Muna Dajani and Yahia Mahmoud argue that renewable energy projects, usually presented as neutral climate solutions, extend colonial control in two illegally occupied territories: Western Sahara under Moroccan rule and the Syrian Golan Heights under Israeli rule. They call this the “enduring coloniality” of ecological modernisation, a model that pairs green technology with economic growth while sidelining justice and self-determination.

The study combines fieldwork, including interviews with officials, international organisations, companies and activists and research in the Golan between 2014 and 2021, with reports by Western Sahara Resource Watch and Al-Marsad. In Western Sahara, wind farms are built without Sahrawi consent, power phosphate extraction and feed electricity to Morocco, and bring in Moroccan settlers and workers while local Sahrawis are excluded from jobs. In the Golan, the planned Energix wind project would take over remaining farmland of the Jawlani population and has met community opposition, legal intimidation and divisions over land deals.

The authors argue that Western governments and companies, including the EU and the United States, lend legitimacy to these projects through silence, investment or policy, in breach of international law. They conclude that the projects entrench occupation and that Sahrawi and Jawlani resistance is part of a long struggle for self-determination.

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