Is ‘eliminating’ remote diesel-generation just? Inuit energy, power, and resistance in off-grid communities of NunatuKavut

Abstract

Nation states globally have signaled a rapid pursuit of net-zero emissions and transition to a low carbon economy. The country Canada is a part of this discourse and already has a largely decarbonized electricity grid, which is expected to grow substantially in the coming decades. Despite these ‘on-grid’ successes, remote, northern, and off-grid communities in Canada, most of which identify as Indigenous, remain almost wholly dependent on diesel fuel for space-heating and power generation. The agenda to transition remote communities off diesel-power is often driven by non-Indigenous outsiders, and seldom centers Indigenous knowledge, rights, or ways of being, potentially resulting in adverse socio-economic and ecological impacts and novel forms of ‘green’ colonialism. The current study is a participatory research partnership, between several university-based researchers, as well as representatives of the NunatuKavut Community Council – the rights-based governing body who represent Inuit across nine diesel-dependent communities in southern Labrador. The case-study research uses key informant interviews (n = 14) and a community member survey (n = 34) to assess how existing clean energy initiatives (policies, plans, programs, projects, etc.) in NunatuKavut have respected principles of energy justice. We discover and build upon several categories of distributional, procedural, and recognition injustice. Recognizing the potential harm of injustice discourses, we call on energy researchers to more meaningfully integrate strength-based approaches which focus on Indigenous resistance and response to energy domination. Finally, based on our results, we develop two novel schematics to help further understand distributive and procedural justice in the context of Indigenous energy governance.