Geneva (Switzerland) 24 June 2025 (SPS) – The Sahrawi Observatory for Natural Resources and Enviromental Protection (SONREP) launched its new annual report today under the title: “Sustainability for Whom? Renewable Energy and Environmental Justice under Occupation,” during an international virtual conference gathering experts in law and environment alongside civil society representatives from across the globe.
The report highlights the rapid expansion of renewable energy projects in the occupied Western Sahara, warning that these projects are strategically used by the Moroccan occupying power to entrench its illegal control over the territory, flagrantly disregarding the environmental and political rights of the Sahrawi people.
The report confirms that these projects, which include wind farms, solar energy installations, and green hydrogen production initiatives, are implemented without the consent of the Sahrawi people, constituting a clear violation of international law and key rulings by the European Court of Justice and the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights.
These rulings have emphatically reaffirmed that Morocco holds no legitimate sovereignty over Western Sahara and that any agreements or economic activities involving the territory without the express consent of its legitimate representatives lack legal validity.
The report further points out that these projects generate substantial profits for Morocco, while systematically excluding the Sahrawi people from economic benefits.
Moreover, the labor opportunities created predominantly favor Moroccan settlers, accelerating demographic changes in the occupied territory in direct contravention of the Fourth Geneva Convention.
Participants in the conference also warned of severe environmental and social consequences linked to renewable energy projects, particularly regarding green hydrogen production, which demands vast water resources in an already water-scarce region, thus threatening the water security and environmental sustainability of the Sahrawi population.
The report also exposes the involvement of foreign companies and governments, especially European, in supporting these projects through agreements with the Moroccan government, thereby making them complicit in the illegal exploitation of Sahrawi natural resources and undermining international efforts for a peaceful resolution to the conflict.
In conclusion, the Sahrawi Observatory calls on the international community, especially governments and investment institutions, to immediately halt all energy-related economic activities in Western Sahara unless they have the free, prior, and informed consent of the Sahrawi people.
The report stresses that any just and sustainable energy transition must be grounded in respecting the Sahrawi right to self-determination and the permanent sovereignty of peoples over their natural resources.
Coinciding with the report release, SONREP officially relaunched itself as a Sahrawi institution specialized in documenting environmental violations and resource exploitation, and advocating for environmental justice under occupation, marking a significant enhancement of the Sahrawi people’s rights-based struggle on the international stage. (SPS)
090/500/60 (SPS)
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