- After more than three years of legal wrangling, a court in Paris has ruled that a civil case brought by Indigenous communities in Mexico against French energy giant EDF can go ahead.
- The case was filed by Zapotec communities in Oaxaca state, who complain that EDF’s Gunaa Sicarú wind farm project violates their land rights and lacks reasonable consultation with communities.
- The case against EDF was filed under the recently approved French Corporate Duty of Vigilance Law, designed to hold French companies accountable for abuses overseas.
- Projects that support the energy transition and climate change mitigation can stir local conflicts similar to those associated with fossil fuels if community rights are not properly considered, experts warn.
JUCHITÁN, Mexico – Indigenous farmers from southern Mexico angry over landscape damage and poor consultations associated with a massive wind power project have had their day in court in France, where judges have allowed their case to proceed.
Zapotec communities from the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in the state of Oaxaca and their supporters in Europe launched a legal action against French energy giant EDF, alleging the company failed to prevent violence and intimidation of residents who opposed the wind farms on their ancestral land.
After more than three years of legal wrangling, judges at the Paris Court of Appeals authorized the civil case to go forward in a ruling issued June 18, according to a statement from the plaintiffs’ lawyers.
“This landmark decision sends a clear message for transnational corporations,” said Guillermo Torres, a senior lawyer with the Mexican campaign group ProDESC, which helped launch the court action. “Their activities can be subject to judicial review whenever they fail to comply with the law.”
