The role of civil society in proposing sustainable alternatives to BRI projects.

Abstract

In 2013, China launched what now is considered to be the largest infrastructure and development plan in human history, The Belt and Road Initiative. This ambitious project aims to increase connectivity and trade among countries. However, many researchers across the globe worry about the negative implications it has on the environment and local communities. Specifically, BRI terrestrial and maritime corridors overlap with many critical areas for biodiversity conservation and people's social and economic benefits. Environmental and social planning will play a fundamental role to ensure a green development of the project and its capacity to meet societal needs. Currently, the lack of consultation with local communities about these projects is causing the loss of lands, benefits, and rights of local communities on their living conditions strictly linked to a sense of belonging and traditional knowledge. The thesis aims to inestigate the role of civil societies supported by NGOs and actors struggling to help local communities to participate actively in proposing socio-ecological alternatives. I will delineate a general overview of the BRI, its threats, and its opportunities. Then I will focus on the important role that local communities have to mitigate the negative impacts and promote local and environmental interests by providing four cases. Finally, I will conclude with an analysis of the common elements between the case studies previously analyzed emphasizing the actors that are working on the involvement of local communities to ease possible environmental damages.