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Governing Critical Mineral Mining and the Clean Energy Transition
As the global community races to mitigate climate change, demand for many metals and minerals is expected to increase to supply the production of wind turbines, solar panels, and electric vehicles for the clean energy transition. At the same time, countries are expected to continue to demand these materials for infrastructure, consumer technology, and defense. The International Energy Agency estimates that these trends could contribute to a 150% increase in global demand for copper between 2023 and 2040, a doubling of demand for cobalt and nickel, and an 870% increase for lithium.
Yet mining can create serious environmental and social impacts in local areas of operation. For example, mining and the processing of natural resources uses large amounts of water, which can exacerbate scarcity in drought-prone regions also under stress from climate change. Mining can also pollute water, soil, and air, and necessarily involves major changes in land use, often displacing pre-existing populations.
At the same time, geopolitical tensions between the US and China could threaten mineral supply chains that are needed to facilitate rapid deployment of clean energy technology, leading countries that have long depended on mineral imports to invest more in mining. These emerging trends require effective local, national, and international governance to ensure a just energy transition.
Earlier this month, Program Scientist Scott Odell, who leads the MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative’s (ESI’s) Mining and the Circular Economy program, participated in a panel discussion on these topics organized and moderated by Maria-Therese Gustafsson, Associate Professor of Political Science at Stockholm University, Sweden. Entitled “Governing Critical Raw Materials and the Energy Transition: Challenges for Socio-Environmental Sustainability,” the event convened four researchers from different parts of the world to consider the current state of critical mineral governance, as well as challenges and opportunities to improving it. The meeting offered a unique opportunity for ESI staff to engage with other scholars working on critical mineral mining governance and highlighted the urgent need for attention to this issue from scholars, industry, and policymakers.
In her remarks, panelist Erika Weinthal, John O. Blackburn Distinguished Chair in Environmental Social Systems at Duke University, United States, noted the complexity of mineral governance given the long supply chain of extraction, processing, and incorporation into final products, and pointed out that while much attention has been paid to international and national-level governance, more attention is needed on the local impacts of mining. Susan Park, Professor of Global Governance at University of Syndey, Australia, presented an analysis of 44 transnational mineral governance initiatives, showing that most focus on supply chain security and energy access, with insufficient attention to environmental and social harms of extraction.
MIT ESI Program Scientist Scott Odell (second from left) responds to a question from the audience. Other speakers, from left to right, include Kløcker Larsen, Stockholm Environmental Institute; Hyeyoon Park, University of Stirling; Susan Park, University of Sydney; Erika Weinthal, Duke University; and Maria-Therese Gustaffson, Stockholm University. Photo credit: Stockholm University
Hyeyoon Park, Lecturer in International Politics at the University of Stirling, United Kingdom, raised concern that geopolitical pressures to decouple from China — which dominates the metal processing industry and the mining of some metals — puts at risk China’s incentive to participate in transnational mineral governance mechanisms. From a specific national case, Kløcker Larsen, Senior Research Fellow on Rights and Equity at the Stockholm Environment Institute, discussed concerns that mineral deposits in Sweden tend to be concentrated on Indigenous Sámi lands, and that traditionally, regulatory measures have been insufficient to protect human rights. However, he noted that space is opening in the court system to better respond to community concerns.
For his part, Odell presented case study results from his research in Chile, the world’s largest producer of copper and second largest of lithium. (See related: “Hydrosocial Displacements: Climate Change and Community Relations in Chile’s Mining Regions.”) Specifically, he noted that the impacts of climate change and expanded mining are resulting in conflicts over water in Chilean mining regions. New efforts to address these challenges through seawater desalination and greater collaboration between companies and communities are helping, but risk simply displacing the negative impacts of mining downstream and/or to more vulnerable communities. Odell concluded his remarks by highlighting three broad challenges and opportunities for critical mineral governance that emerge from the Chile case:
- Mine better, especially with regard to community relations, mine closure, and tailings management;
- Advance the circular economy so that more metal is recycled, and not only mined;
- Develop methods to mitigate energy and metal consumption.
Building from these points, Odell expressed optimism that the current high level of public attention on critical minerals creates a unique opportunity for society to rethink and redesign our consumption and production systems to be more sustainable.
The event was co-organized by the Nordic Institute of Latin American Studies, the Mistra Mineral Governance Program, the GRIP-ARM project, and the EPPLE Group at Stockholm University.