US EditionA rush for critical minerals echoes oil extraction injustice as harms fall on world's most vulnerable, scientists warn
- Researchers at the United Nations University Institute report that mining critical minerals for green technology is worsening water stress and public health in extraction regions worldwide.
- The global transition to green technologies requires deliberate actions to avoid creating "sacrifice zones," places where human and ecological well-being are traded away for technological breakthroughs.
- In 2024, global lithium production required 456 billion liters of water, equivalent to the annual domestic water needs of roughly 62 million people in Saharan Africa.
- Mining activities in Chile's Atacama Desert account for up to 65% of regional water use, while polluted runoff in Peru and the Democratic Republic of the Congo threatens local food systems.
- Binding international rules, expanded recycling, and genuine community governance could mitigate social and environmental costs embedded in critical mineral supply chains.
18 Articles
18 Articles
The AI boom is built on the backs of the world's poorest, most exploited people, UN researchers find
There is a troubling contradiction at the heart of the global transition to a cleaner, greener, tech-driven future: Modern technologies – everything from AI to wind turbines, as well as cellphones, electric vehicles and defense systems – depend on critical minerals. But many of the communities where those minerals are mined end up with polluted water and poorer health because of the mining. Lithium powers batteries. Cobalt stabilizes them. Coppe…
Africa: The Race to Mine Critical Minerals for AI and Clean Energy Is Creating 'Sacrifice Zones' That Harm Water and Health of World's Poor
Analysis - There is a troubling contradiction at the heart of the global transition to a cleaner, greener, tech-driven future: Modern technologies - everything from AI to wind turbines, as well as cellphones, electric vehicles and defense systems - depend on critical minerals. But many of the communities where those minerals are mined end up with polluted water and poorer health because of the mining.
The Conversation
The race to mine critical minerals for AI and clean energy is creating ‘sacrifice zones’ that harm water and health of world’s poor
An artisanal miner holds a cobalt stone at a mine near Kolwezi, Congo, in 2022. About 20,000 people work there among toxic materials. Junior Kannah/AFP via Getty ImagesThere is a troubling contradiction at the heart of the global transition to a cleaner, greener, tech-driven future: Modern technologies – everything from AI to wind turbines, as well as cellphones, electric vehicles and defense systems – depend on critical minerals. But many of th…
A rush for critical minerals echoes oil extraction injustice as harms fall on world's most vulnerable, scientists warn
Mining critical minerals such as lithium and cobalt fuels the "green" energy and digital transitions essential to meeting climate goals. But building the technologies that enable a sustainable future is generating severe, hidden environmental and health crises that the world is failing to track or address, warns a new report by the United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH), known as the UN's Think Tank on W
Toronto, Canada, Apr 29 (EFE).- The global race for critical minerals, essential for technologies such as electric vehicles or artificial intelligence, is generating serious environmental and social impacts on some of the most vulnerable communities on the planet, according to a report by the United Nations University (UNU). The study ‘Critical Minerals, Water Security and Injustice’ points out that the energy and digital transition, key to comb…
The growing demand for critical minerals, essential for technologies such as electric vehicles, renewable energy, and artificial intelligence, is causing profound environmental and social impacts, particularly in more vulnerable countries. A new report from the United Nations University points out that this energy transition, while necessary, reproduces global inequalities already seen in the oil industry. The global race for minerals such as li…
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