Date and Time: THURSDAY 14 September 2023, 10am-11.30
DESCRIPTION
The European Green Deal’s (EGD) transformative policies around the clean energy transition (CET) will affect communities and industries globally. The European Union (EU) cannot source all of its critical mineral supply domestically, and thus, the shift towards renewable energy requires obtaining these minerals from other places, potentially externalising the socioenvironmental risks that accompany mining. This may contribute to conflicts over resource extraction that stem from European decision-making but have impacts that are felt beyond its borders. The EGD recognises the need for careful attention to potential trade-offs between economic, environmental and social objectives by emphasising a just transition. However, this raises important questions about how policymakers will strike the appropriate balance, and whether such considerations will include impacts upon individuals and communities beyond EU borders. What are the imperatives of a just institutional approach? These questions are considered from an interdisciplinary perspective, by including insights from the social sciences, law and environmental sciences. The example of water impacts from mining in the Lithium Triangle is highlighted to contextualise the justice implications of the ever-increasing demand for critical minerals, and to argue that the principles of a just transition should be operationalised throughout the critical mineral supply chain to include all impacted communities. Otherwise, there is a risk of reproducing a form of climate colonialism in the name of CET.
LECTURER
Dr Asmaa Khadim, Leiden University
SUGGESTED READINGS
Sagebien, J., Lindsay, N., Campbell, P., Cameron, R. and Smith, N. (2008). The corporate social responsibility of Canadian mining companies in Latin America: A systems perspective. Canadian Foreign Policy Journal, 14(3): 103-128.
Tigre, M.A., Zenteno, L., Hesselman, M., Urzola, N., Cisterna-Gaete, P. and Luporini, R. (2023). Just Transition Litigation in Latin America: An Initial Categorization of Climate Litigation Cases Amid the Energy Transition. New York, US: Sabin Center for Climate Change Law, Columbia Law School.
Xu, C., Dai, Q., Gaines, L., Hu, M., Tukker, A. and Steubing, B. (2020). Future material demand for automotive lithium-based batteries. Communications Materials, 1(1): 1-10.
Zografos, C. and Robbins, P. (2020). Green Sacrifice Zones, or Why a Green New Deal Cannot Ignore the Cost Shifts of Just Transitions. One Earth, 3(5), 543-546.