Asia is experiencing a rapid surge in renewable energy development, fueled by an unprecedented flow of investments into the region. However, if it repeats the old model of landgrabs and repression, it will only deepen injustice instead of solving it. Two renewable energy initiatives– one in Assam, India, and another in Flores, Indonesia—show what happens when “ green projects” are imposed on Indigenous Peoples. In Assam, the government of India and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) sought to build one of the largest solar farms in the region, backed by a $434 million loan. On paper, it was a model of progress. On the ground, it threatened to displace 24 villages and seize 2,400 hectares of land—including forests, farms, and customary land of the Karbi, Naga, Kachari Indigenous communities without their consent. When these communities spoke out, they faced intimidation. Yet they organized, mobilizing thousands of families through the Karbi Anglong Solar Power Project Affected People’s Rights Committee. Their collective actions forced the Indian Ministry of Finance to request the withdrawal of financing, and in May 2025 the ADB cancelled the loan. What looked like a grand “green” project collapsed because it ignored rights.
