The authoritarianism of hydroelectric power greening in Panama: the deregulating paradoxes of climate action seen from the South
This article questions the deregulating effects of the Clean Development Mechanisms (CDM). Created in 2001 by the United Nations, this mechanism allows countries that have a greenhouse gases emission-limitation commitment under the Kyoto Protocol to invest in non-polluting energy in developing countries. In exchange, developed countries can earn saleable carbon emission credits. Through this energetic greening, the purpose of this mechanism is to stimulate the decrease of global warming and sustainable development in the South with respect to social justice and environmental protection actions. Using the case of the hydroelectric energy development in Panama, this article argues that the CDM allows a climate action based on a deregulation of previous sustainable standards. Thus, as opposed to its justification, the clean certification standards sustain ultraliberal economic practices and may also allow authoritarian development policy that are contrary to sustainable development principles. In this way, this paper highlights the CDM deregulating effect in the field of development. At the end, this article discusses the economic and political stakes of such come back of the laissez-faire” in relation with State governability in the South. This article thus offers a critical analyze on the CDM, as seen from its negative consequences in the South. In so doing, it contributes to broaden the CDM critical theory.