Enel was sentenced to compensate a Native American tribe

The Osage tribe of Oklahoma got one historic victory for indigenous rights against the Italian energy giant Enel, accused of exploiting their land without permission in the drive towards the energy transition.After a long legal battle, the court ruled that Enel will almost have to pay $260 million to remove 84 wind turbines from the lands of the Osage Nation.This is one of the first rulings in the United States to require decommissioning of a wind project in operation;a subsequent trial will establish how much the company will have to pay in compensation.

«Enel, it will cost you a fortune not to have asked us for a permit.That was all you had to do,” he told the Financial times the president of the Osage Minerals Council, Everett Waller, whose tribe had been massacred in 1900.Martin Scorsese's film also takes up their story, Killers of the Flower Moon, nominated for an Oscar.The film tells how the Osage people initially became rich with the discovery of oil on their land, but ended up being exploited and decimated by white men who tried to seize the black gold.Waller added that the Osage Nation is not against clean energy, but insisted that companies must commit to proper prior consultation.The Osage victory comes as the expansion of so-called "clean energy" in the United States accelerates, encroaching on tribal lands and raising questions about whether the green transition risks inflicting the same damage as the fossil fuel industry.

Human rights activists have documented numerous examples of abuse by fossil fuel companies that have violated indigenous land rights in the US – and elsewhere – for more than a century.The risk now is that, in the name of energy transition and energy clean, the same abuses are committed again.A annual global benchmark report of the non-profit organization Business and Human Rights Resource Center examined 28 public wind and solar energy companies and found that virtually none of them mention the rights of indigenous peoples nor does it make any commitments relating to Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples of the United Nations, a non-binding framework established in 2007.Obtaining the informed consent by indigenous populations regarding the use of their lands and resources is a right enshrined in the Declaration.

An Enel spokesperson said the company "does not agree" with the recent court decision and will appeal.The company will continue in "good faith" to operate the wind project until a final outcome is determined and never intended to impose itself on the sovereignty of the Osage Nation, he said. declared the spokesperson.THE'Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), promoted by President Joe Biden and entered into force in August 2022, contains a series of incentives for US business investments in green energy technologies.The IRA also pushes for the participation of indigenous nations in the energy transition process, and there is a reason:according to a recent report MSCI, the vast majority of metals crucial for the energy transition, including copper and lithium, are found within 35 miles of Native American reservations. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory also found that tribal lands are home to nearly the 7% of the country's renewable energy potential.Perhaps this is where the USA's interest in involving indigenous communities in the energy economy arises green.

Many natives have allowed themselves to be convinced and are aiming for government incentives and compensation offered by companies that aim to extract rare materials from their lands.The question of how to achieve climate, energy security and economic development goals while preserving tribal institutions and lands has divided indigenous communities.In Arizona, for example, the mine Resolution Copper by Rio Tinto and BHP has been awaiting federal approval for more than a decade, delayed by a dispute with members of the San Carlos Apache tribe, disagreeing with each other.Many of the tribe's members say the project will destroy Oak Flat, a sacred site listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and violates their religious rights.In January 2021, the nonprofit community organization Apache Stronghold filed a lawsuit seeking a preliminary injunction to stop the project.Last March, the group asked a full jury of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit to block the transfer of the land to Resolution Copper.Some tribal members have supported the project and the economic opportunities it brings;“many dozens of members” of the San Carlos Apache tribe had in fact been bought by the company and worked for Resolution Copper.If developed, Resolution Copper will be the largest copper mine in North America, covering a quarter of US copper demand.The price paid will be the destruction of ancestral lands.

Meanwhile, yes lawsuits are multiplying conducted by indigenous groups against projects ranging from wind farms to the transmission cables, until lithium mines, driven by the fear that development green results in a loss of Indian territory.“For any other dispute involving Indian Country, you now have a case that you can leverage,” Waller said, referring to the historic victory against Enel.A legal precedent to fight businesses.At least in Court.

[by Monica Cillerai]