Green Conflict Minerals: Investigating Renewable Energy Supply Chains in Fragile States.
▻https://www.newsecuritybeat.org/2018/09/green-conflict-minerals-investigating-renewable-energy-supply-chain
The shift to a low-carbon economy is not only underway, it is accelerating. Last year, Costa Rica generated more than 99 percent of its electricity using renewable sources; Germany expanded its onshore wind power capacity by 5,300 MW, and in the United States, more than 62 percent of new power plants under construction will produce renewable energy. What does this rapid increase mean for the countries that supply the inputs required to build these new facilities—particularly those countries that are struggling with fragility or corruption?
The technology and infrastructure for the transition—including wind turbines, solar panels, and electric vehicles—depend on significant supplies of certain metals and minerals. For example, the World Bank estimates that demand for the minerals used in solar panels could increase by 300 percent by 2050, should the international community meet the goals established in the Paris Agreement. A new report by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), analyzes the supply chains for these metals and minerals–from who, where, and how they are obtained and processed—and the impacts on mineral-rich states. Green Conflict Minerals: The fuels of conflict in the transition to a low-carbon economy finds that significant reserves are located in states perceived to be both fragile and corrupt, and that their increased extraction is linked to local grievances, tensions, and—in the worst cases—violence.
Conflict Mineral Hotspots
