South Asia's solar power push is facing a land battle

Land availability is key to India and Bangladesh's solar development

Food and jobs are at risk when cropland and pastures are taken away.

Experts call for fair dealings and consultations with the communities

By BhaskerTripathi and Md. Tahmid Zami

Modhera’s 6 megawatts (MW) of solar power and battery storage system were built in 2022, despite the opposition of local farmers who had filed a lawsuit in the highest court for the state in 2020 to stop its construction.

According to the research group Land Conflict Watch, it is one of 25 land conflicts in India that are linked to renewable energies. Local media in Bangladesh reported that solar projects were halted because of local protests.

Experts say that India and Bangladesh's push to increase the use of renewable energy and solar power is increasing land conflict, because farmers are worried about losing important agricultural land for renewable energy projects.

Mudita Vidrohi is an environmental activist who says that competing land claims are the main cause of conflict.

The COP29, which will take place in Azerbaijan in this month, is a meeting of world leaders who are discussing the funding for priorities, such as the transition to clean energy. This follows a commitment made at the COP28, held in Dubai, last year, to triple the global renewable energy capability.

India and Bangladesh both announced that they would increase their solar energy capacities in the next few years to reduce their dependence on fossil fuels, which are harmful to our planet.

India wants to produce half its electricity using renewable sources by 2030, up from the current 46%. Bangladesh wants to generate 30% of its power from renewable sources by the end decade. This is a dramatic increase from the current 4.5%.

According to Land Conflict Watch, the 25 land disputes that have occurred in India affect over 30,000 people as well as millions of dollars worth of renewable investments.

Vidrohi stated that the majority of opposition in India comes from smallholder farmers, pastoral communities and nomadic livestock raisers who depend on common land to provide food and income. She said that a majority of India's 13,000,000 pastoral communities reside in the semi-arid, sunny south and west regions. This is where solar projects are currently being constructed. She said that the livelihoods of pastoral communities are in direct conflict with India's ambition to build solar projects.

PROTESTS IN BANGLADESH

According to a study by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, a non-profit organization, land procurement is proving a major obstacle for Bangladesh in achieving its green capacity goals.

Ijaz Hassain, a professor at the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, said that land ownership in Bangladesh is very fragmented. This makes it difficult to pool enough space for a solar energy project.

In a country with a high rate of food insecurity, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification estimates that one-fourth of all people will be facing "acute" food insecurity in the fourth quarter 2024.

Residents and local media reported that a protest by local residents against the construction of the 200 MW solar power plant in Barguna, southwest district, led to the scrapping of the project.

Farmers and activists from the region formed a human link in the village Agathakur Para. They claimed to be trying to protect the land, where three staple crops are grown each year.

A local businessman named Shahin Alom said that power generation must not affect "even an inch" of land used for multiple crops.

Bangladesh, where 70% of the land is used to grow crops, has issued a circular that prohibits solar parks on land used for multiple crops each year. According to the Asian Development Bank, Bangladesh's agriculture sector is responsible for 40% of its workforce.

Asad Sarkar confirmed local media reports that plans for solar parks to be built in Barapukuria - a coal mining area in the north of Bangladesh - have been halted due to protests.

Rohini Kamal is a researcher at Brac University in Bangladesh. She stressed the importance of involving local communities in discussions regarding renewable energy projects.

She said, "Without a fair agreement with farmers, herders and fishermen, as well as other land users," you can't ensure that solar growth will create jobs.

Land Banks

India's clean energy plans are moving forward despite protests in Bangladesh that have halted some solar projects.

Ecologists are concerned that India could lose its biodiversity and livestock feed if it uses some of its wasteland, which accounts for 17% of all the land in the country.

According to data from the government, India's renewable power capacity has grown by over 200% during the past decade. This growth was largely driven by solar energy.

In a report published recently, the Council on Energy, Environment and Water said that land scarcity in India could become a bottleneck to the solar expansion of the country as it uses more and more land for renewable energies.

CEEW, a think tank, said that India must produce around 7,000 gigawatts of renewable energy in order to achieve its national goal of net zero emission by 2070. Generating anything above 1,500 GW would result in significant land conflicts because of population density and climate risk such as floods and storms.

(source: Reuters)