Shale Gas in Brazil: Dilemmas Between the Energy Transition, Socio-Environmental Justice, and Community Rights.

• DOI: https://doi.org/10.22533/at.ed.13176326270315

• Palavras-chave: Shale gas. Hydraulic fracturing. Socio-environmental justice. Just energy transition. Community rights.

• Keywords: Shale gas. Hydraulic fracturing. Socio-environmental justice. Just energy transition. Community rights.

• Abstract:

  The expansion of shale gas in Brazil has been presented as a promise of energy security and economic development. But behind this technical discourse lies a set of deep tensions that cut across vulnerable territories, marginalized communities, and historical structures of inequality. This article critically investigates how the exploitation of unconventional gas such as shale gas, made possible by hydraulic fracturing, reconfigures power relations and challenges principles of socio-environmental justice in the country. Based on a literature review, documentary analysis, and 16 interviews with experts, converging perspectives emerge regarding severe water risks, the fragility of community participation, institutional capture, and the potential setback in Brazil’s energy transition. The findings show that, without robust participatory governance and without guarantees of free, prior, and informed consent, the expansion of shale gas tends to reproduce and even intensify historical patterns of exclusion. The study highlights that the dispute surrounding shale gas is not merely technological: it is political, territorial, and deeply unequal.