Outlawing metal mining in El Salvador - Policy Brief 18
This Policy Brief from TTP Associate Clare Cummings describes how a community-led campaign for ‘water over gold’ succeeded in banning metal mining in El Salvador.
In 2017, El Salvador passed a law that banned metal mining. In other countries in the region, mining continues to damage livelihoods and pollute water sources; in El Salvador, a community-led campaign for ‘water over gold’ succeeded.
This case study demonstrates how coalitions can bridge identity groups, how a problem can be framed to fit with popular political movements and how cultural identities can help mobilise people around environmental protection.
The following lessons from the anti-mining campaign’s success can inform politically aware programmes:
- Analyse the interests of the political elite, business leaders, rural communities and religious leaders. Understand their cultural identity, ideas and moral values.
- Build coalitions. Broaden support for your campaign to increase political pressure.
- Leverage international support.
- Frame your campaign within popular narratives and cultural values. Can key stakeholders be persuaded to see environmental protection differently?
- Lock it into law. Legislative change can send a strong message.
Why energy security starts in the kitchen
With global energy markets reeling from geopolitical chaos, Indonesia’s USD 4.7 billion liquid petroleum gas subsidy is no longer just a fiscal burden but a severe economic vulnerability. In this blog (which was published as an Op-Ed for Jakarta Post), TPP Director Neil McCulloch argues that the government must finally grasp the nettle of subsidy reform.
The Political Economy of Gender and Energy
As part of the webinar series looking at different aspects of the energy transition from a political economy perspective, the ENERGIA international network on gender and sustainable energy hosted the third webinar on development partners' changed political priorities regarding gender and social inclusion (GESI) and the strategies that practitioners have used to embed GESI within national energy institutions.
The Political Economy of Carbon Pricing
As part of the webinar series looking at different aspects of the energy transition from a political economy perspective, the International Institute for Sustainable Development hosted the second webinar looking at why carbon pricing remains so politically difficult and what kinds of strategies have been most effective in different contexts.