EXTRACTION.
The Frontiers of Green Capitalism
Will green technologies and renewable energy save us from climate
change? While public policies focus increasingly on a “clean”
energy transition, the discussion shies away from the vexing
dilemmas of raw materials supply chains. Minerals such as coltan,
lithium and others are necessary to produce the technology needed
for an energy transition, from batteries to windmills. However,
their extraction often has serious environmental and social
consequences.
In her book “Extraction: the Frontiers of Green Capitalism”, Thea
Riofrancos explores the production of lithium, a critical
resource for renewable energy storage, electric transportation
and many other uses. Its mining is responsible for water
depletion, chemical pollution, habitat and biodiversity loss. In
production countries, environmental and Indigenous movements
contest the rapid expansion of extraction, defending ecosystems,
livelihoods and waterways already under pressure from global
warming. Thea Riofrancos’ book tells the story of how a critical
mineral became the focus of a worldwide battle over the future of
green energy and, by extension, capitalism. This battle has
become part of geopolitics as growing energy requirements linked
to transport, digitalisation, and recently AI and military
technologies have unleashed an ever-increasing rush for the
extraction of minerals.
Opening Remarks: Irene Horejs,
Former EU Ambassador, Curator, Bruno Kreisky Forum for
International Dialogue
Keynote: Thea Riofrancos is an associate
professor of political science at Providence College, Rhode
Island, co-director of the Climate Community Institute and a
fellow at the Transnational Institute. She is the author of
several books and writes for, among others, Jacobin and the
Guardian.
Moderator:
Moderator: Simela Papatheophilou is a law and
development researcher. She works at the Austrian Foundation for
Development Research (ÖFSE), where much of her work is on raw
materials policy and trade policy.
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