A just energy transition? Impacts on Indigenous lands in Argentina
Indigenous communities from Northwest Argentina recognise the urgent need to shift to clean energy but question current models driven by 'green extractivism', which threaten the rights and resources of local communities and still do not guarantee them energy access.
Participants of a workshop on the energy transition held in Rinconada, Jujuy in February and March 2025 (Photo: Rocío Gutiérrez, ANDHES)
The transition to renewable energy, presented as a global solution, is deepening historical inequalities in Indigenous territories in the northwest region of Argentina. This region is rich in critical minerals such as gold, copper and lithium and has become a global hotspot for mining, despite documented threats to the lands and rights of local communities.
A project developed by ANDHES, a civil society organisation in Argentina, and IIED delivered a series of workshops that sought to capture and understand the perspectives of local Indigenous communities in the provinces of Jujuy and Tucumán on what constitutes a just energy transition.
Here we present the experiences of Indigenous communities in two regions: Amaicha del Valle in Tucumán and La Rinconada in Jujuy, including communities from Rinconada, Cienego Grande, Santo Domingo, Lagunillas de Pozuelos, Laguna Larga and Pampa Colorada.
The communities' relationships with the energy transition are diverse and complex. In Amaicha del Valle, workshop participants described failed attempts to deploy renewable energy projects, as well as damage to roads and buildings caused by heavy trucks travelling from gold mining operations in the neighbouring province of Catamarca.
Meanwhile, communities in Rinconada denounce mining activity in their area, which is causing severe socio-environmental impacts and is linked to the supply chain of an energy transition whose benefits never reach their territories.
Failed plans cause mistrust in the promise of a 'just transition'
The Amaicha del Valle Indigenous community, home to approximately 5,000 people, is located in a mountainous region of Tucumán province.
While urban areas in the province have access to energy, energy access becomes more complex in rural areas. In Amaicha, energy is mainly produced from non-renewable sources, causing deforestation, pollution and health problems. Solar panels are rare due to their high costs and low efficiency (characterised by constant outages and low voltage, limiting their use to only certain electrical appliances). The electrical infrastructure is unreliable, with many areas lacking a connection.
Access to water depends on electric pumps and is limited and subject to disputes over distribution, a situation worsened by Amaicha being a water-stressed region.
In 2017, a foreign company attempted to install a solar park in the communal lands of Amaicha. However, the site selected for the project contained archaeological remains.
There was a lot of resistance from the community because there was no consultation from the outset, and the project was abandoned when preliminary studies revealed the presence of petroglyphs on the site, which hadn't been studied.
Lili, community member
The investors were Spanish or French – the process was rushed… people said no because there was a lot of mistrust.
Chavella, community member
In the end, the project was not implemented, but the episode deepened local mistrust towards projects that are introduced without free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) or without clear technical information. It also contributed to growing scepticism about the very concept of a 'just transition', as proposals appear rushed and companies offer empty promises.
Mining devastates the local environment and contaminates water sources
In Rinconada, an area of Jujuy province which is home to more than 20 Indigenous communities, people use traditional fuels, such as firewood and dung, which are already overexploited, non-renewable fuels like LPG, and electricity, which is unreliable. Although there have been attempts to introduce renewable solutions such as solar panels and water heaters, communities face significant obstacles, including high costs and a lack of technical support.
The first mine in Rinconada was the Chinchillas mine, which opened in 2018. Lead, silver and zinc – minerals considered critical for the global energy transition – are extracted from this site.
But people living nearby say the mine has devastated the local environment:
In reality, it is us who are affected because we live in the territory from where resources are taken. We're left with nothing while major infrastructure is built in the cities…
Mirta, community member from Rinconada
You can't raise livestock here anymore because the water is contaminated – the Chinchillas mine has contaminated it. Just look around, everything is polluted, so how are we supposed to live?
Armando, community member from Lagunilla de Pozuelos
No benefits for Indigenous Peoples
From the perspective of local inhabitants, the energy transition merely reproduces a colonial extractivist model. Resources are extracted in the name of a sustainable future, yet Indigenous Peoples continue to be excluded.
The experiences of both communities reveal historical problems which persist because they share the same logics of exclusion – the structural dynamics that continue to impact and marginalise Indigenous communities and the local population.
These dynamics include:
- The absence or inadequacy of FPIC processes
- Inequitable distribution of costs and benefits
- Legal and regulatory frameworks that exclude Indigenous communities from decision-making and reinforce extractive models (in Spanish)
- The repeal of laws that previously protected their rights (content in Spanish)
- The absence of a communal land ownership law that would guarantee legal security
- The displacement of young people to urban centres due to lack of opportunities
- Spiritual harm (content in Spanish) experienced by women, and
- The deepening of structural inequalities in a historically marginalised northwest region of Argentina.
Energy access should be a right, not a privilege
While communities recognise the urgent need to improve energy access and reduce their reliance on polluting energy sources, they also question current transition models driven by 'green extractivism', which fail to incorporate collective governance or meaningful community participation.
Energy access should not be a privilege; it must become a collective right. This means changing how energy is produced, distributed and governed. It requires listening to and respecting those who protect the land and ensuring that they are also empowered to decide its future. Clean technologies alone are not enough if colonial logics persist.
