Global resistance to energy extractivism: an episode of CRÍTIC’s podcast in collaboration with Engineering Without Borders

We take part in CRÍTIC’s podcast to connect struggles from different territories facing an energy model based on extractivism, resource control and the violation of rights.

Struggles for energy sovereignty and for the defense of territories against extractivism are increasingly being articulated at the international level. In this context, Engineering Without Borders has taken part in a special episode of CRÍTIC’s podcast, focused on analysing the geopolitical strategies linked to the control of energy resources and the forms of resistance that are emerging across the world.

The programme, hosted by journalist Laura Aznar, brings together voices from different territories affected by the global energy model. Four participants discuss the impacts of the current energy system and the struggles challenging it:

• Irene González, member of Engineering Without Borders and spokesperson for the Alliance against Energy Poverty.
• Jaron Browne, director of Grassroots Global Justice Alliance, a network of community-based organisations in the United States working for climate, economic and racial justice.
• Carlos Luis Rivero, executive director of the Simón Bolívar Institute for Peace and Solidarity among Peoples.
• Alois Arencibia Aruca, member of the national board of Cubasolar, the Cuban society promoting renewable energy and environmental respect.

The conversation highlights how the control of energy resources is part of a global geopolitical struggle with direct consequences for communities.

Irene González warned that the energy conflict does not only affect the Global South. In Spain, she explained, the liberalisation of the sector has turned energy into a commodity and weakened its recognition as a right. This results in energy exclusion for thousands of families, particularly among working-class households, migrant communities and single-mother households.

From the United States, Jaron Browne framed the discussion within the global system of extractivism and energy imperialism, stressing how racialised and working-class communities are the ones most exposed to the environmental impacts of the energy system. He also highlighted the importance of building international alliances among social movements to confront these dynamics.

For his part, Alois Arencibia Aruca, from Cubasolar, described the difficulties Cuba faces due to energy restrictions and the economic blockade, and emphasised the importance of advancing a transition towards renewable energy based on international cooperation and collective learning.

Finally, from Venezuela, Carlos Luis Rivero addressed the impact of sanctions and external interference on the country’s energy sovereignty, and defended the right of peoples to decide over their natural resources and development models.

The podcast also highlights the recent creation of the International Movement of Communities Affected by Dams, Socio-environmental Crimes and the Climate Crisis, an initiative bringing together people and collectives affected by the global energy model and seeking to strengthen alliances between local struggles.

The episode underlines the need to build global resistance against an energy system based on extractivism and the concentration of power, and to advance towards alternatives that place the rights of peoples, social justice and the defense of the commons at the centre.