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 · 2014–2018

Mareña Renovables wind farm (Mexico)

Nature's voice · report
No measurement of the harm done to me here is on record.
Did nature suffer? Not measured.
People
  • 1 people died.
    Rolando Crispín López, a community police member who opposed the project, killed on 22 July 2018. The record does not establish who ordered the killing or why.
What the record lacks: 2 none on record · 3 insufficient · 1 not measured · 1 disputed · 1 unclear See the gaps

A wind farm project in Oaxaca, Mexico had its original site cancelled in early 2014 and was rebuilt as Eólica del Sur at other sites with an Inter-American Development Bank loan. A community police member who opposed the project was killed in July 2018; no court outcome has been found.

396 MWWind capacity rebuilt at other sites after the first site was cancelled
Eólica del Sur, Juchitán and El Espinal, with an Inter-American Development Bank loan.

Status As of the latest dated entry (2018): the original site was cancelled in 2014 and rebuilt as Eólica del Sur; no court outcome has been found for the July 2018 killing of a community police member who opposed the project.

What?
A wind farm project in Oaxaca whose original site was cancelled in early 2014 and which was rebuilt as the 396 MW Eólica del Sur with an Inter-American Development Bank loan. Inter-American Development Bank
Where?
Oaxaca, Mexico: the original site at San Dionisio; Eólica del Sur in Juchitán and El Espinal; the killing in Álvaro Obregón, Juchitán. Human rights defenders' memorial (HRD Memorial)
When?
The original site was cancelled in early 2014; Rolando Crispín López was killed on 22 July 2018. La Jornada
Who?
Gained
Lost
Harmed
Why?
Local communities protested the project, saying it would adversely affect their livelihoods. Business & Human Rights Resource Centre
How?
After the first site was cancelled, the project was rebuilt as Eólica del Sur at two other sites with an Inter-American Development Bank loan. Inter-American Development Bank
6 of 6 questions answered from the record

What happened

The record, in order.

Mareña Renovables was a wind farm project in Oaxaca, Mexico. The record names Macquarie, Mitsubishi and the Dutch pension investor PGGM as its partners, and a joint response by the Mareña Renovables joint venture, Macquarie, Mitsubishi Corporation and PGGM to the allegations of community protest was published by the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre. The title of that entry records that local communities protested the project, saying it would adversely affect their livelihoods, and that protesters were allegedly subject to intimidation. The text of the response is not in the record.

The original site, at San Dionisio, was cancelled in early 2014. PGGM said at the time that the project would move to two other sites, according to La Jornada (3 February 2014).

The project was rebuilt as Eólica del Sur, a 396 MW wind farm in Juchitán and El Espinal, with a loan from the Inter-American Development Bank (project ME-L1107, listed as closed).

Rolando Crispín López, a member of the community police, was killed on 22 July 2018 in Álvaro Obregón, Juchitán, Oaxaca. According to the human rights defenders' memorial, he had opposed the Mareña Renovables wind farm and, later, Eólica del Sur. Neighbours named a municipal police officer as the shooter. The research found no court outcome.

  1. 2014Original San Dionisio site cancelled (early 2014); PGGM says the project will move to two other sites
  2. 2018Rolando Crispín López, a community police member who opposed the project, killed on 22 July; no court outcome found

What was said

Claims, in the words of those who made them.

Where accounts differ

Each party's account, side by side, with its source. The record does not settle these points; it shows them.

Would the wind farm adversely affect local livelihoods, and were protesters intimidated?
Communities and civil society
Local communities in Oaxaca

Protested the project, saying it would adversely affect their livelihoods, and allegedly were subject to intimidation (as stated in the title of the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre entry).

Business & Human Rights Resource Centre
Company or project
Mareña Renovables joint venture, Macquarie, Mitsubishi Corporation and PGGM

Published a joint response; its text is not in the record.

Business & Human Rights Resource Centre

How it looked

What was shown, beside what was recorded.

Shown

    Recorded

    • The original San Dionisio site was cancelled in early 2014; PGGM said the project would move to two other sites
      La Jornada
    • The project was rebuilt as Eólica del Sur (396 MW) in Juchitán and El Espinal with an IDB loan, listed as closed
      Inter-American Development Bank
    • Rolando Crispín López, a community police member, was killed on 22 July 2018 in Álvaro Obregón, Juchitán, Oaxaca; he had opposed the Mareña Renovables wind farm and later Eólica del Sur
      Human rights defenders' memorial (HRD Memorial)
    • Neighbours named a municipal police officer as the shooter; no court outcome was found
      Human rights defenders' memorial (HRD Memorial)
    • The Mareña Renovables joint venture, Macquarie, Mitsubishi Corporation and PGGM published a joint response to the allegations of community protest and intimidation (entry on the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre site); its text is not in the record
      Business & Human Rights Resource Centre

    Who gained

    Money that reached nature, beside money that stayed elsewhere.

    Reached nature or the ground

    Not published
    No figure published.

    Gained elsewhere

    Not totalled
    Currency: · Window: . All figures cover the same period. * Estimate built from cited figures.

    Responses on record

    • pggm (February 2014): Said the project would move to two other sites after the original San Dionisio site was cancelled. · La Jornada
    • macquarie: Joined the Mareña Renovables joint venture, Mitsubishi Corporation and PGGM in a published response to the allegations of community protest and intimidation; the text is not in the record. · Business & Human Rights Resource Centre
    • mitsubishi: Joined the Mareña Renovables joint venture, Macquarie and PGGM in a published response to the allegations of community protest and intimidation; the text is not in the record. · Business & Human Rights Resource Centre

    In court and with insurers

    Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.

    Lawsuits and rulings

    No court case on record. No court has ruled on this case.

    Insurers

    No insurer decision on record.

    What nature saw

    Outcomes measured on the ground, and nature's note.

    Nature's report opens this page. Below: further outcomes measured on the ground.

    Original site
    Cancelled 2014
    San Dionisio; the project moved to other sites
    Capacity rebuilt
    396 MW
    Eólica del Sur, Juchitán and El Espinal
    Death of an opponent
    1
    Community police member killed 22 July 2018; no court outcome found

    What we don't know

    Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.
    No court caseDeaths reported

    Nature

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

    Court

    Accounts

    • Disputed Would the wind farm adversely affect local livelihoods, and were protesters intimidated?

    Record

    • None on record No court outcome has been found for the killing of Rolando Crispín López.
    • Insufficient Reported but not independently verified: Heineken and FEMSA were to buy the project's electricity under a 20-year agreement (2012).
    • Insufficient Reported but not independently verified: Vestas supplied turbines for the project.
    • Insufficient Reported but not independently verified: a 2013 killing of a wind-farm opponent named Héctor Regalado Jiménez appears in one summary; the research could not verify it at all.
    • Unclear Whether the consultation for the IDB-financed Eólica del Sur was upheld by Mexico's Supreme Court in 2018 is unverified.

    Did the harm stop?

    Not applicable on the record: the original site was cancelled in 2014 and the project was rebuilt at other sites.

    Who paid?

    Not established in the record.

    Sources

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

    Press and investigations

    Communities and civil society

    1. Rolando Crispín López
      Human rights defenders' memorial (HRD Memorial) ·

    International bodies

    1. Eólica del Sur (project ME-L1107)
      Inter-American Development Bank ·

    Connected cases

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

    Institutions

    IDB
    The Inter-American Development Bank.

    Bonds and banking

    Guarantee
    A commitment by a third party, often a development bank, to pay if the borrower does not.
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