Energy and Climate Justice in the Arab Region
25 March 2025. From 18:30 | Conference | English | IEMed
With authoritarian regimes, significant fossil fuel reserves, and a history of colonialism and imperialism, the Arab region is a focal point of global politics. It is also home to potentially immense green energy resources.
In this lecture, we will explore environmental orientalism and the practices of green colonialism and green grabbing in the region, arguing that, rather than addressing colonial dynamics, the ecological and climate crises have sparked a new wave of resource-grabbing and extractivism. We will examine some of these examples, alongside the centrality of Palestinian liberation as a climate justice struggle against US-led empire and global fossil capitalism. These experiences highlight the importance of fighting for a just energy transition and climate justice, as well as the need for a class and coloniality-conscious approach to climate justice. The session will conclude with a discussion of the available alternatives, from technology transfer to genuine democratization and popular sovereignty over land, water, and other resources.
Hamza Hamouchene is a researcher and activist, coordinator of the North Africa Programme at the Transnational Institute (TNI), and a founding member of Algeria Solidarity Campaign (ASC), Environmental Justice North Africa (EJNA) and the North African Food Sovereignty Network (NAFSN). His research interests include extractivism, resources, land and food sovereignty, as well as climate and trade justice. Some of his recent publications are: Dismantling Green Colonialism: Energy and Climate Justice in the Arab Region (ed., Pluto Press, 2023), The Arab Uprisings: A decade of struggles (ed., Transnational Institute, 2022), and The Struggle for Energy Democracy in the Maghreb (2017). Hamouchene has also published some of his articles in newspapers such as The Guardian, Huffington Post, Middle East Eye and New Internationalist.
Moderated by Aurèlia Mañé, Associate Professor, Department of Economic History, Institutions, Policies and World Economy, UB. A session within the Aula Mediterrània 2024-25 lecture series.
Speakers
Hamza Hamouchene
Researcher, activist and coordinator and emmeber of various institutions TNI, ASC, EJNA and NAFSN
Aurèlia Mañé
Associate Professor UBOrganised by
