The case study that follows may be suggestive
of the fate of the UN Habitat III agenda in its attempts to lead the world
community of nations towards a more sustainable urbanism; in short it may
reduce to an exercise of “herding cats.”
EcoWatch: “Recently the Chilean government
revoked an environmental permit for an $8 billion Hidro-Aysen project, which
would have built five dams in the ecologically rich and wild Patagonian region.” After nearly a decade of organized protest, which evolved from local grassroots
opposition into an international cause celeb, the project was defeated, the
issue seemingly resolved in favor of Aysen community. But this story needs to
be put in context, especially as it relates to the relationship of the rural
sector as a provider of resources, in this case electricity to the cities, and
the other interests, namely those of the nation-state and powerful global players
in their constant quest for capital expansion.
The proposal was put forward by Endesa, the
largest electricity utility company in Chile and Spain, and (now owned by the
Italian corporation, Enel), which promotes itself as a company whose total
culture fosters sustainability and environmental sensitivity. Their website
stresses their good standing and conformance with the UN Global Compacts (UNGC)
standards, with an “advanced level” rating, said to be awarded to those who
demonstrate a high level of sustainable performance throughout their
institutions and affiliates. And from the UNGC's website there is no
apparent contradiction to these claims. Their process seemingly has no
mechanism to monitor the real world behaviors of its signatories.
But there is much left out in this glossed
account. First, Endesa has a long
history in Chile, where it was first a public company before being privatized
during the Pinochet era, at which time it was granted ownership of river rights
under a new category termed “non consumptive” usage which means you must return
after use.. The devil is in the details of “usage” in that the resultant purified water is inimical to animal life.
While later legislation (2005) required detailed reporting on possible
environmental impacts, these requirements were mostly unenforced until the
recent proposal to build the five dams in the middle of Chile's most diverse ecological
region in the Patagonian range. Here Endesa's long term relationship with the
governmental power brokers and their deep pockets gave them a distinct
advantage over local grassroots movements, and their claims, that the dams
would endanger the environment and their way of life which was farming,
fishing, and ecotourism.
Supporting Endesa, the government asserted that
Chile, long noted for its expensive energy costs, needed to solve its “energy
crisis,” and that this project would provide much needed, and less expensive,
energy to main urban areas such as Santiago. The locals of the governmentally
underserved Aysen, were not buying this story, although subsequently Endesa
with the aid of media and government ministries, attempted various campaigns of
misinformation to split public opinion along with promises of new
infrastructure and jobs, meant to undermine social cohesion. The truth
was always that the dams would be built to serve the mining sector, that the winners
would be the extraction industry, providing resource exports that benefit
transnational companies. The losers would be the locals who cherished
their way of life, and the degradation of the pristine and irreplaceable
biosphere of the Aysen. The project was never about the rural supporting growing urban needs.
And the issue of alternative energy sources was excluded from the discussion
until the community pushed back with its counter story.
Ironically, this transnationally imposed
project was met with a like response, when local grassroots movements were
transformed into the Patagonian Defense Council, which tapped into an
international environmental movement and brought to bare the discourse of
internationally established environmental norms. With the assistance of 80 NGOs,
and the power/knowledge of the scientific community, they were able to
construct a counter storyline to defend against this double
"expulsion" of biosphere by degradation and the irreplaceable way of
life of a long marginalized population. Their usage of the 'global' to turn
back its encroachments is a heartening result, but hardly the end of
neoliberalist attempts to harvest the world without regard for the long term
damages it inflicts. But the battle continues; and the vacuum that was the lack
of renewable alternatives has become the challenging new discourse defining
Chile's and the region's future.
UN Habitat III has put forth a preliminary
agenda which will focus on development that is sustainable. The contests
described in this blog post illustrate the numerous obstacles that must be over
come, as UN Habitat “herds the cats” of multiple conflicting interests. First,
the resources to feed the ever expanding need of the cities, are often embedded
in bio-diverse regions that support life ways that are inherently different
from the urban. This player (or cat)
sees their life form endangered and comes to the issue in the developing spirit
of resistance pervading Latin America, finding allies in the global community.
The nation-state, seen as underserving and corrupt, has its own interests,
working to accommodate global corporations and investors, while facing the realities of growing urban populations and energy needs.
This “cat” may have truly committed to their claim that the dams were a
solution to the “energy crisis” rationale and the surface argument that they
represent clean, renewable power. Still they have a long history of being
reshaped by global corporate interests, so one wonders what effect the emerging
goals of Habitat III will have on such a conflicted actor. The global
corporate interest, Endesa, arguably the biggest or more most resilient cat,
has many options and has shown enormous patience in their quest for control of
the market for energy. They are also ahead of the curve from a PR standpoint,
paying due diligence in their courting of UNGC.
We might think of the UN as the lion tamer in the room, but in
truth it's the creature of its clientele nations, and more so the many and more
influential corporations they are in bed with. Thus their institutional skills
of conflict resolution, not to mention the attempt to frame a sustainable
agenda, against this assortment of divergent world views, would seem as ill-fated
as past efforts of this kind. A primary focus of this study will be to
follow their attempts to link all parties to some meaningful action plan that
will deal with the existent and looming crisis of the new urban age. Theirs
will be a major task against a diffuse opposition that seems hell bent on
creating a world that favors their separate interests, but in its diffusion
favors the powerful and their quest to control land and water resources and continue their reckless expansion with little regard for the
growing needs of the city. As Sassen argues in her recent work the prevailing theme of
neoliberal capitalism is that of exclusion, the capture of land, water, and the
biosphere, for its own use without regard for the needs of the planet or its
cities.
Sources
Robinson,
William I. Latin America and Global Capitalism : A Critical Globalization
Perspective. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008.
Sassen,
Saskia. Expulsions: Brutality and Complexity in the Global Economy.
Cambridge, Massachusetts: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2014.
UN Habitat III has put forth a preliminary agenda which will focus on development that is sustainable. The contests described in this blog post illustrate the numerous obstacles that must be over come, as UN Habitat “herds the cats” of multiple conflicting interests. First, the resources to feed the ever expanding need of the cities, are often embedded in bio-diverse regions that support life ways that are inherently different from the urban. This player (or cat) sees their life form endangered and comes to the issue in the developing spirit of resistance pervading Latin America, finding allies in the global community. The nation-state, seen as underserving and corrupt, has its own interests, working to accommodate global corporations and investors, while facing the realities of growing urban populations and energy needs. This “cat” may have truly committed to their claim that the dams were a solution to the “energy crisis” rationale and the surface argument that they represent clean, renewable power. Still they have a long history of being reshaped by global corporate interests, so one wonders what effect the emerging goals of Habitat III will have on such a conflicted actor. The global corporate interest, Endesa, arguably the biggest or more most resilient cat, has many options and has shown enormous patience in their quest for control of the market for energy. They are also ahead of the curve from a PR standpoint, paying due diligence in their courting of UNGC.
We might think of the UN as the lion tamer in the room, but in truth it's the creature of its clientele nations, and more so the many and more influential corporations they are in bed with. Thus their institutional skills of conflict resolution, not to mention the attempt to frame a sustainable agenda, against this assortment of divergent world views, would seem as ill-fated as past efforts of this kind. A primary focus of this study will be to follow their attempts to link all parties to some meaningful action plan that will deal with the existent and looming crisis of the new urban age. Theirs will be a major task against a diffuse opposition that seems hell bent on creating a world that favors their separate interests, but in its diffusion favors the powerful and their quest to control land and water resources and continue their reckless expansion with little regard for the growing needs of the city. As Sassen argues in her recent work the prevailing theme of neoliberal capitalism is that of exclusion, the capture of land, water, and the biosphere, for its own use without regard for the needs of the planet or its cities.
Sources
Robinson,
William I. Latin America and Global Capitalism : A Critical Globalization
Perspective. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008.
Sassen,
Saskia. Expulsions: Brutality and Complexity in the Global Economy.
Cambridge, Massachusetts: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2014.
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