Mining minerals – uncertainties caused by global energy transitions

Responding to climate change requires transitioning at pace and scale to low-carbon energy sources.  However, this in turn requires a huge supply of minerals, from lithium and nickel for electric vehicle batteries to copper for conducting wind power. 

With many of these natural minerals found in many low- and middle-income countries this presents significant economic development opportunities but also multiple uncertainties, particularly for citizens whose lives and livelihoods are impacted by mining companies and biodiversity loss or land grabs due to mining expansion. 

Join this Sussex Development Lecture to hear more about the role of minerals in tackling climate change, the tensions between economic development and social justice and the rise in conflicts between mining projects and social activist movements.