Raw Materials

While lithium is at the heart of the green transition, mining it is unsustainable. The residents of Covas do Barroso resist.

The case of the small village of Trun in Bulgaria – threatened by a new gold-mining project – is a stark illustration of how the interests of biodiversity, nature and ordinary people living in the area can simply be dismissed. A proliferation of such projects could have a serious impact on the ecology of the entire region, as well as contributing to a global impact on the climate.

In developing countries raw materials more often lead to inequality and conflict rather than prosperity and peace. But for most countries leaving the riches in the soil is not an option. What is needed for the fair mining of natural riches?

International environmental policies focus on safeguarding renewable natural resources. Little attention, however, is paid, to the much more difficult problem of non-renewable natural resources, such as metallic ores and phosphate. A survey of the dilemmas.