Green Grabbing, Law and Resistance: Renewable Energy Projects in İzmir

Abstract

The global "Decarbonization Consensus" is speeding up the energy transition, but the large land requirements for renewable energy sources are increasing conflicts over environmental justice. This situation has led to significant criticism of "green grabbing" and "green extractivism." This paper investigates the dispossession of communities in Western Turkey's Izmir province. It focuses on conflicts related to wind, solar, and geothermal energy projects that limit community access to agricultural and grazing lands. Using sociolegal studies, the research draws on archival and content analysis of laws and media. It examines how legal frameworks allow land appropriation for renewable energy in the name of "public interest." It also explores how affected communities organize legally to oppose these changes. The paper argues that Turkey's renewable energy growth reproduces extractive patterns through legal methods that facilitate dispossession Nevertheless, it concludes that the legal system also provides important chances for local communities and their allies to resist and challenge these actions.