Who gains from saving nature
Ledger 1 : 33 — For each dollar financing nature-based solutions in 2023, about $33 financed activities harmful to nature. (UNEP)
Cases / Wind, hydro and other renewables · Mexico · 2022

Gunaa Sicarú wind farm contracts cancelled after Zapotec community suit

Short record: the main facts, with sources. A full case file has not been prepared.

Nature's voice · report
No measurement of the harm done to me here is on record.
Did nature suffer? Not measured.
Not on record
  • The record does not name which of my species, waters, soils or forests were harmed.
What the record lacks: 2 none on record · 1 insufficient · 1 not measured See the gaps

EDF's planned 300 MW wind farm on Zapotec common land in Oaxaca had its contracts cancelled in June 2022 after a community lawsuit. The case shows how common land rights can decide the fate of large renewable developments.

What?
Contracts for the 115-turbine, 300 MW Gunaa Sicarú wind farm on Zapotec common land were cancelled in June 2022. ProDESC
Where?
Unión Hidalgo, Zapotek common land, Oaxaca, Mexico ProDESC
When?
Contracts cancelled in June 2022. ProDESC
Who?
Gained
  • Unión Hidalgo Zapotek community — Won the cancellation of the wind farm contracts on its common land ProDESC
Lost
  • EDF — Wind farm contracts cancelled; a community lawsuit against it in France is listed as ongoing
Harmed
None on record
Why?
Not stated in the sources reviewed.
How?
Court measures and a lawsuit brought by the Zapotek community with ProDESC. ProDESC
6 of 6 questions answered from the record

What happened

The record, in order.

The 115-turbine, 300 MW Gunaa Sicarú wind farm, which France's EDF planned on Zapotek community land in Oaxaca, was cancelled in June 2022, according to ProDESC.

ProDESC reported that the Zapotek community of Unión Hidalgo obtained court measures and that the cancellation was definitive.

The community also brought a lawsuit against EDF in France, which the sources list as ongoing.

Electricity and connection contracts with CFE, the Mexican state electricity company, were cancelled.

    In court and with insurers

    Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.

    Lawsuits and rulings

    1. 2022-06-02Claimant won
      Unión Hidalgo community challenge to the Gunaa Sicarú wind farm
      Mexican court (not named in the sources reviewed) · Civil · Unión Hidalgo Zapotek community → Not named in the sources reviewed

      The community obtained court measures, and ProDESC reported that the cancellation of the wind farm was definitive. ProDESC

    2. Ongoing
      Unión Hidalgo community lawsuit against EDF
      French court (not named in the sources reviewed) · Civil · Unión Hidalgo Zapotek community → EDF

      Listed among ongoing cases in the sources reviewed; no further details are given.

    Insurers

    No insurer decision on record.

    What we don't know

    Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.

    Nature

    • Not measured Harm to nature: The record holds no measurement of harm to nature.

    Record

    • Insufficient Reported but not verified: the previous government's policy favouring the state utility CFE may have played a role in the cancellation.
    • None on record The sources reviewed do not give the outcome of the French lawsuit.
    • None on record The sources reviewed do not state the wind farm's environmental impacts.

    Did the harm stop?

    Not stated in the sources reviewed.

    Who paid?

    Not stated in the sources reviewed.

    Sources

    Voices on record: — Company or project— Government and regulators— Courts— Press and investigations✓ Communities and civil society— Researchers

    Communities and civil society

    Connected cases

    Related matters, and cases linked to this one through the same organisations, with the role each played in both.
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