Between the climate emergency and territorial rights

Democratic limits of the energy transition in environmental licensing in Rio Grande do Norte (Brazil)

Abstract

This paper examines the democratic limits of the energy transition in Brazil through a critical analysis of environmental licensing processes for wind energy projects in the state of Rio Grande do Norte. It is grounded on the hypothesis that the climate emergency, once incorporated as a political and administrative imperative, reshapes state rationality by prioritizing decision-making speed and efficiency over procedural guarantees and territorial rights. Adopting a qualitative and interpretive approach, informed by Critical Discourse Analysis and the theory of horizontal accountability, the study investigates how discourses of technical neutrality and sustainability function as legitimizing mechanisms that depoliticize conflicts and render traditional communities invisible. The empirical analysis of administrative cases reveals recurring practices of silencing the Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) and highlights intra-state conflicts that expose competing administrative and legal rationalities. The findings suggest that the energy transition has been operationalized through a form of “normalized procedural exception”, in which formally recognized rights are substantively undermined in practice. The study concludes that the sustainability of the energy transition depends not only on environmental effectiveness but also on the substantive incorporation of democratic principles, social participation, and territorial justice into decision-making processes.