Renewable Energy Discourses in Middle Income Countries

The assumption of trade-offs between efforts for emissions reductions and poverty eradication fuels the argument that developing countries can only diffuse renewable energy technologies, if they receive financial support. The financial mechanisms under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) have not yet supported the diffusion of renewable energy technologies at scale. Yet we find growing numbers of renewable energy policies in developing countries. This paper analyses the question why middle-income countries pursue renewable energy programs, despite inexpensive domestic fossil fuel resources and lacking international support. We chose Mexico, South Africa and Thailand as case studies to answer this question. All three countries hold abundant local fossil fuel and renewable energy resources. We argue that renewable energy programs become implementable policy options in fossil fuel resource rich middle-income countries, if large coalitions of powerful political actors support these programs. This argument goes beyond economic explanations of comparative cost of renewable energy technologies and fossil fuels, which is only a part of the political discourse. Our argument is based on a discourse network analysis of the domestic coalitions in support and opposition to renewable energy policies.